Sylmar man admits selling child porn of local girls on Instagram

LOS ANGELES – A 23 year old Sylmar man accused of using Instagram to advertise sexually explicit photos of local girls that he offered to sell via the internet pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge.

Alejandro Garcia Aranda entered his plea downtown Los Angeles According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, there is one count of distribution of child pornography.

Aranda faces between five and 20 years behind bars at a sentencing hearing on Feb. 18, prosecutors said.

According to the indictment, Aranda used the Instagram account “valleyhoezzz818” in April and May 2020 for the self-proclaimed purpose of targeting local girls attending schools in the San Fernando Valley.

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Prosecutors said Aranda received payments from customers seeking to obtain sexually explicit content from the victims that he had advertised and offered to sell on Instagram.

When victims discovered that sexually explicit material depicting them was being advertised and distributed by Aranda and requested that he stop and remove it, Aranda attempted to extract additional sexually explicit material from them, including by threatening to send more photos places, according to the complaint.

Aranda was charged in Los Angeles federal court with one count of advertising child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of sending threatening communications with intent to extort.