Central Coast Man Sentenced to More Than 11 Years in Federal Prison for Receiving Child Pornography Weeks After Release from State Prison

LOS ANGELES – A Santa Barbara County man was sentenced today to 135 months in federal prison for receiving thousands of videos containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) within one month of his parole from California state prison following his conviction for internet-related child sexual exploitation crimes.

Giovanni Gonzalez, 34, of Carpinteria, was sentenced by United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner, who also ordered him to pay $24,000 in restitution.

Gonzalez pleaded guilty on February 5 to one count of receipt of child pornography.

“Within days of his release from state prison for despicable acts he committed against children, this defendant returned to his deplorable ways, obtaining thousands of videos showcasing the sexual exploitation of kids,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “Protecting our children is central to my office’s mission and we will continue to use all available tools to prosecute those who participate in this wicked marketplace that traffics in child abuse.”

“Sexual exploitation of children is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our society,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. “This case underscores the FBI's commitment to investigate all offenders who cause harm to our children, and we will ensure these individuals no longer pose a threat to our communities.”

According to his plea agreement, on December 1, 2022, Gonzalez was paroled from California state prison following a sentence of more than 17 years for posing as a teenage girl online and coercing at least eight minor female victims into engaging in sex acts and sending him the images, as well as for possessing and sharing CSAM on the internet.

Later that month, Gonzalez sought out and began receiving CSAM from sources, including one on WhatsApp, a computer software application on his mobile phone.

On December 28, 2022, Gonzalez knowingly received from one source numerous files of CSAM. Upon receiving this material on WhatsApp, Gonzalez saved them to the memory card of his mobile phone.

On January 7, 2023, Gonzalez turned over his mobile phone to his parole officer pursuant to his search conditions. Upon inspection, law enforcement found in Gonzalez’s telephone approximately 2,684 videos containing CSAM, of which several depicted prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct or sexual exploitation of an infant or toddler.

The FBI and the Santa Maria Police Department investigated this matter. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office provided assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy K. Beecher of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section prosecuted this case.