By Redaccion
[email protected]
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office has filed a juvenile petition against a 17-year-old from Simi Valley.
The minor is facing a total of 22 felony counts for possession or control of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), distribution and possession with intent to distribute CSAM to an adult, and using a minor for sex acts. The minor is also charged with two special allegations of possessing more than 600 CSAM images and that the images include sado-masochistic acts.
In August, the District Attorney’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Unit began an investigation into the possession and distribution of CSAM after receiving several Cybertip reports from multiple electronic service providers and social media sites. The material being disseminated online involved the exploitation and sexual assault of children as young as infants. The suspect was identified as a 17-year-old minor from Simi Valley.
On December 10, 2024, members of the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, with the assistance of the Simi Valley Police Department, and Ventura County High Tech Task Force, served a search warrant at the juvenile’s residence in Simi Valley. The suspect was arrested and taken to Juvenile Hall.
The juvenile’s first court appearance occurred on December 12, 2024. The case was set for a pretrial conference on December 31, 2024, and for contest on January 3, 2025. The minor remains detained at the Juvenile Facilities, in Oxnard.
