LONG BEACH, CA — More than three years after Patch reported that a Long Beach man accused of traveling to Tanzania to sexually abuse a teenage girl was a fugitive wanted by the FBI, he has been extradited from Colombia to face federal charges in Los Angeles.
Ivan Lozano Hernandez, 39, was returned to the United States from Bogotá on Friday and appeared in federal court Monday, according to the FBI. He was remanded to federal custody pending trial.
Federal authorities allege Hernandez began communicating with the girl as early as 2020, when she was 14 and living in Tanzania, and directed her to send him nude images and videos.
In October 2021, Hernandez allegedly traveled to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and repeatedly engaged in illicit sexual conduct with the girl, according to federal authorities.
The FBI began investigating after the girl's parents learned of the alleged abuse and reported Hernandez to law enforcement in Los Angeles, which referred the matter to federal investigators.
Investigators later executed a search warrant and seized Hernandez's electronic devices, allegedly finding thousands of images and videos depicting child sexual abuse material, according to the FBI.
A federal criminal complaint filed March 10, 2023, charged Hernandez, then identified by federal authorities as Ivan Lozano, with enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity and possession of child pornography.
By the time the Justice Department publicly announced the case four days later, Hernandez was already described as a fugitive being sought by the FBI.
Federal authorities said Hernandez fled the United States sometime after investigators executed the search warrant and traveled extensively overseas while a fugitive.
His time on the run ended in July 2025, when police in Medellín, Colombia, encountered Hernandez and learned he was wanted in the United States based on an Interpol Red Notice issued by the FBI.
A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Hernandez the following month on four counts: enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and possession of child pornography.
After extradition proceedings in Colombia, he was returned to the United States on Aug. 21 and made his initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles three days later. Already a fugitive when the case against him became public in March 2023, Hernandez remains in federal custody pending trial.
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