Tens of thousands of images and videos were recovered during the operation, according to the sheriff’s office.
A two-week online child pornography investigation in the Sacramento Valley region of California has resulted in the arrests of 12 men, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office announced Oct. 31.
The Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force, made up of 18 local agencies including the sheriff’s office, conducted the high-tech investigation called “Operation Monster Mash.”
Sheriff Jim Cooper, a former state assemblyman, had harsh words for those allegedly involved in the type of online viewing and trading of child pornography targeted in the task force’s third operation this year.
“These individuals are the scum of the earth,” Mr. Cooper said during a press conference Tuesday. “I wish I could show you all in the public how bad it is. These folks are evil.”
The child victims involved in the materials collected during the latest sting were as young as newborns and toddlers, according to the sheriff.
One of the men arrested allegedly had an online chat with one of the child victim’s parents, asking for their permission to molest the child, he added.
“Many of the targeted suspects were found to be in possession of horrendous [child pornography] files that depicted sexual images of infants and toddlers who were forced to engage in sexual abuse,” the sheriff’s office said in a social media post Tuesday.
Tens of thousands of images and videos were recovered during the operation, according to the sheriff’s office. One suspect had over 5 terabytes, equal to 5,000 gigabytes of images, the department said. Detectives also recovered videos and images of unknown suspects urinating on infants and toddlers, the sheriff’s department reported.
One suspect, Josh Sevilla, 40, of Citrus Heights, California, is also suspected of “hands-on” offenses with a minor who was between 11 and 12 years old for two years, according to the sheriff’s department.
Mr. Sevilla was charged with 12 counts of lewd acts with a minor by force or fear, eight counts of lewd acts with a minor under 14, and possession of child pornography. The defendant remained in custody Tuesday on a $1 million bond, according to the sheriff’s office.
