ARLINGTON — As of 1 p.m. Jan. 22, Maria Cantwell’s office reported that the case of Edward Chrisman, the long-time member of the Assembly of God Church in Arlington who was arrested Jan. 8 in Mexico with his grandson, Gary Chrisman Jr, is in the hands of the U.S. State Department.

Edward Chrisman, 88, spends winters in Arizona with his son, Gary Chrisman. He traveled to Algodones, Mexico, eight miles south of Yuma, in early January with his grandson Gary Chrisman Jr, who wanted to get some dental work done. They were both arrested Jan. 8 on pornography charges after Gary Chrisman snapped a photo of two women in a convenience store in Algodones, Mexico. The family reports that Gary Chrisman had the permission of the teenage girls mother to take the photo. Both men were arrested soon after. Edward Chrisman never got out of the car.

Now they are both being held in a Mexican federal prison in Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California Norte.

The Chrisman family are sure the two men are innocent.