Nine Arrested In So. Calif. Child Porn Investigation
Nine men were behind bars on Friday facing a list of charges stemming from their alleged involvement in trading child pornography online, according to federal court documents.
A spokesman representing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security departments confirm agents made eight of the arrests Friday morning, which included two near Palm Springs.
David Christopher Jelaca, 37, a registered nurse from La Quinta, faces charges of distribution, possession and attempted distribution of child pornography to a minor, as well as charges that he enticed other children to engage in sexual activities.
He first captured the attention of authorities when he posted an ad on Craigslist, using the phrase, “Dirty Daddy who likes to share his daughter’s dirty panties.”
In email exchanges with undercover agents, Jaleca acknowledged having had sexual contact with girls as young as 15 years old and told them he fantasized about girls as young as 12.
As a result, agents searched his La Quinta home, seizing computers disk drives that were found to contain more than 26,000 still images and 55 movie files of suspected child pornography.
Ronald Sousa, 67, of Cathedral City, was also indicted by a federal grand jury for possessing and distributing child pornography.
The cases were part of the Department of Justice’s initiative called “Project Safe Childhood,” which brings together federal, state and local law enforcement authorities to track down adults who use the internet to exploit children.
Others arrested during Friday morning’s operation include: Bolivar Arnoldo Guillen, 59, of Rancho Cucamonga, Ronald R. Jaenson, 66, of Colton, John Anthony Serrano, 37, of Barstow, Anthony Starkweather, 20, of Mentone,
Among the most prolific of the suspects, agents said Michael Peterson, 58, was also taken into custody at his home in Ontario Friday.
Investigators said they searched Peterson’s home in July and seized several computer hard drives and a laptop computer where they found more than 500,000 images and 7,500 videos of suspected child pornography.
He first caught investigators’ attention during a separate probe into peer-to-peer file sharing, in which one computer user is able to take pieces of large files from several people to build the file themselves.
Enrique Garcia, 26, of Hemet, was arrested on Wednesday, which makes him the ninth arrest in the Inland Empire.
Garcia was freed without bail and was expected to return for his arraignment on Monday at the federal courthouse in Riverside.
Agents said the charge of possession of child pornography carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. The charges of distribution of child pornography and receipt of child pornography each carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years.
