Los Angeles-area man sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for third conviction of possessing child pornography

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A San Bernardino man who was on federal supervised release when he was found with hundreds of videos and still images depicting child pornography has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison – the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles.

Theron Charles Barron, 28, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal – the same judge who sentenced him in his first child pornography case.

In October and November 2018, Barron possessed a total of 319 videos and 47 images of child pornography. One of the videos depicted a toddler being victimized by an adult male.

During a traffic stop in October 2018, deputies of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department seized from Barron a smartphone and a digital storage device that contained child pornography. The next month, during a search of Barron’s residence, authorities recovered another storage device that contained additional videos and images depicting child pornography.

Barron pleaded guilty in December 2019 to two counts of possession of child pornography. Once he completes the 10-year prison sentence in this case, he will be on supervised release for 15 years and he will be required to register as a sex offender.

Barron was convicted in federal court of possessing child pornography in 2014 – also the result of an HSI Los Angeles probe – and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. His second conviction came in 2018 in Los Angeles Superior Court.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California’s Riverside Branch Office.