A 58-year-old man was arrested in his Ontario, California home on December 2nd after police discovered his collection of over 500,000 images and 7,500 videos of child pornography, according to Reuters. The collection is possibly the largest ever seized in U.S. history, and has so far led to the arrests of nine other men across Southern California that the suspect led them to after his arrest.
Police had originally raided the man's home in July on a search warrant and seized multiple computers and hard drives containing the vast collection of child pornography, but did not arrest the suspect until recently with the cooperation of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. The man now faces federal charges of possessing, receiving, and distributing child pornography, and could face a maximum sentence of 50 years imprisonment. The other men arrested in the crackdown face similar charges.
Any form of involvement with child pornography is illegal at the state court level in California and the federal court level in the United States as a whole. Under California Penal Code Section 311, child pornography is defined as "obscene matter" and a person is guilty under Section 311.3 (a), "if he or she knowingly develops, duplicates, prints, or exchanges any representation of information, data, or image ... that depicts a person under the age of 18 years engaged in an act of sexual conduct." Possessing child pornography can be punished by up to 10 years in federal prison under 18 U.S.C 2252A(a)(5)(B), and both receiving and distributing child pornography can each be punished by five to 20 years of imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(2)(A). Producing child pornography can be punished federally by imprisonment of up to 30 years under 18 U.S.C. 2251(a).
Child pornography charges carry both severe penalties and social repercussions that can damage both personal relationships and employment and ruin your life as you would be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of your life. The California criminal defense lawyers at The Law Offices of Daniel Kann can fight for your rights in court if you are facing such charges. Contact our law team for a complimentary consultation on your case by calling (310) 954-9356.
