A San Francisco custodian and property manager, Cristian Eduardo Mattus Piccardo, 50, has been arrested and indicted on charges of possessing child pornography, according to a tweet by Henry Lee KTVU. Mattus Piccardo had regular access to children's homes due to his roles as a janitor of a downtown building, property manager at a multi-family residence in Potrero Hill, and occasional babysitter.
Federal prosecutors say one of the videos in Mattus Piccardo's possession showed him committing a lewd act with a young girl and instructing her to keep it a secret. The chilling incident appeared to happen while he was babysitting the child. Prosecutors disclosed that his cellphone contained over 300 images and 159 videos of child sexual abuse material, as reported by the Mercury News.
The investigation into Mattus Piccardo was launched in 2022 after receiving a tip about peer-to-peer network sharing of potentially inappropriate materials. The defendant's cellphone was seized from his residence earlier this year. Among the videos found were shocking clips of children being violently abused by both adults and other children, some as young as three years old.
Considering the gravity of the charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney George Hageman filed a motion to keep Mattus Piccardo detained. Consequently, the judge ordered him held without bail until the completion of his case, and he remains in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. His next court appearance has been scheduled for August.
