ICE arrests Inland Empire man who teaches at San Bernardino middle school on federal child pornography charges
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A Fontana man is expected to make his initial court appearance late this afternoon after being charged today with federal child pornography offenses for allegedly uploading explicit images to the internet.
Josue Gamaliel Vidal Quintanilla, 28, who teaches mathematics at Shandin Hills Middle School in San Bernardino, was arrested Wednesday morning by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) during the execution of a search warrant at his residence.
According to a federal criminal complaint filed today, Vidal was arrested after he admitted using various online platforms to send, receive and possess child pornography. Evidence obtained by HSI agents and officers with the Fontana Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force indicates that Vidal used Kik Messenger and Snapchat for the past year to transmit child pornography.
Vidal also admitted he posed as a minor boy on the internet and solicited “many” minors – some as young as 10 years old – to engage in sexually explicit behavior in online meetings that took place as recently as Tuesday night, according to the affidavit in support of the complaint.
“A preliminary search of Vidal’s Toshiba laptop revealed approximately 20 image files depicting the sexual exploitation of children, as well as multiple video files with titles indicative of child pornography,” according to the affidavit by an HSI special agent. “Similarly, I conducted a preliminary review of online accounts that Vidal consented for me to search, and I found communications that Vidal engaged in where he sent and received child pornography images and videos as well as sent hyperlinks to downloadable child pornography videos.”
The criminal complaint charges Vidal with one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. If convicted of these two charges, Vidal would face a statutory maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison. Additionally, the transportation count carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in federal prison.
The ongoing investigation in this case is being conducted by HSI Los Angeles and the Fontana Police Department, with substantial assistance provided by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California’s Riverside Branch Office.
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