A 23-year-old Sylmar man, Alejandro Garcia Aranda, was apprehended on charges including the advertisement and distribution of child pornography as well as transmitting threats with the intent to extort, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced today.
Aranda, under the Instagram alias "valleyhoezzz818" is accused of targeting local high school girls, advertising and selling sexually explicit material without their consent, and when victims protested, attempting to obtain more such material through threats, as per the indictment returned June 27.
He reportedly utilized online payment platforms including Cash App, PayPal, Venania, and Zelle to conduct his transactions, subsequently providing buyers with a direct message containing a link to download the content upon payment verification, as outlined by the charges laid against him.
Confronted by his victims, Aranda allegedly engaged in sextortion, threatening to disseminate additional explicit images unless they capitulated to his demands for more compromising photos, evidence gathered by the FBI suggests.
Should Aranda be convicted of all counts, he could face a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years for the child pornography advertisement, an additional five to 20 years for distribution, and a maximum of two years for the threats, the U.S. Attorney's Office confirms. The arraignment is slated for this afternoon in the United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. The case is prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kathy Yu.
