RIVERSIDE, California – U.S. Federal authorities Thursday morning arrested a Perris man who was indicted last week by a grand jury on child pornography offenses stemming from a large collection of illicit images found on his home computer and evidence that he was engaged in online trading of child pornography with others, including an undercover law enforcement officer.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Jerry Glen Moran Jr., 63, was taken into custody without incident by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. Moran is expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in United States District Court.
A federal grand jury on February 8th named Moran in a four-count indictment that charges the defendant with one count of advertising child pornography, two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
During the investigation, authorities recovered tens of thousands of images and videos on Moran’s home computer and in emails that he had sent and received.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reviewed many of the computer files and identified thousands of them as being known images and videos of child pornography.
The investigation into Moran began after he was found to be a user of a foreign photo-sharing website identified by law enforcement as a platform used by child pornographers to meet and trade child pornography.
“The online child pornography market presents an ongoing threat to children who are abused to produce material,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker.
“A child is victimized every time an image is generated and every time it is distributed. This defendant’s conduct is more serious because he advertised his collection to others.”
“Every time a sexually explicit image of a child is downloaded and viewed, that victim is violated yet again,” said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles.
“It is our duty as law enforcement officers, to protect those who cannot protect themselves. HSI will continue to pursue child predators and make them accountable for their unconscionable actions.”
The charge of advertising child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum penalty of 30 years.
The charge of distributing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years.
The charge of possession of child pornography carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison.