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Ventura County District Attorney’s Office charged with felony possession of child pornography to Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara, a priest in the Archdioceses of Los Angeles, after finding him in possession of over 600 images of child sexual abuse material.
According to the DA’s Office the images and videos show prepubescent minors under the age of 12.
District Attorney Erik Nasarenko stated as a priest, the defendant is in a position of tremendous power, authority and trust.
“The alleged crimes deeply violate that trust and involve a disturbing number of sexual images of young boys. These are not simply images and videos. Rather, if found true, they constitute horrific exploitation of our most vulnerable, and the actions of the defendant must be met by the full force of the law,” said Nassarenko.
A member of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, Martinez-Guevara is associated with several churches, including Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Oxnard.
Martinez-Guevara became the focus of an investigation after several reports were made to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
In April 2023, the Ventura County Child Exploitation & Human Trafficking Task Force initiated an investigation of their own.
Investigators determined Martinez-Guevara was allegedly in direct possession of over hundreds images and videos depicting child sexual abuse material, involving mostly boys.
Last Wednesday, the Ventura County Superior Court issued a warrant for Martinez-Guevara’s arrest, then on Thursday, he was located in Long Beach and taken into custody without incident by members of the Task Force.
Search warrants were also served by the detectives with the assistance of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, at the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit in Long Beach, where Martinez-Guevara resides.
This is adjacent to St. Maria Goretti Church and St. Maria Goretti Catholic School.
Arraignment for Martinez-Guevara is currently being held in custody with bail set at $750,000.
The Task Force is comprised of investigators and prosecutors with the Ventura County Sheriff’s, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, the Simi Valley, Oxnard, and Ventura Police Departments, as well as the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s and the FBI.
Members of the Task Force are specially trained in investigating online child sexual exploitation and human trafficking, and they strive to provide rapid responses to the sexual victimization of children.
Investigators believe there could be additional victims.
“Anyone with information regarding Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara is urged to contact their local police department to make a report,” said Nassarenko.
The lead investigator on this case is Supervising Investigator Terry Dobrosky of the DA’s Bureau of Investigation and the Child Exploitation & Human Trafficking Task Force and senior Deputy District Attorney Howard Wise, is prosecuting the case.
