A 26-year-old Hesperia man was arrested last Thursday morning on suspicion of possessing child pornography. Trevor Angus Dene was taken into custody at about 8 am on September 10 in the 14000 block of Sequoia Street.
The case traces back to a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff
. Dene was booked on a charge of violating California Penal Code 311.11(a), possession of child pornography.
That CyberTip system exists because federal law requires it. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2258A, electronic service providers must report suspected child sexual abuse material to NCMEC, which then routes reports to the appropriate federal, state, and local criminal justice agencies, according to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. The scale of that pipeline is staggering: NCMEC's CyberTipline received 21.3 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation nationwide in 2025, per the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
A Detail Built for These Cases
The detectives who worked Dene's case operate within the Specialized Investigations Division of the Sheriff's Department alongside the Homicide Detail. The Sheriff's Department also has a Crimes Against Children Detail.
Dene's arrest is not an isolated event in the High Desert. Just a week earlier, on September 3, detectives arrested 29-year-old Hesperia resident Cameron David Nelson following a separate NCMEC CyberTip alleging child pornography possession and contacting a minor for sex, as Hoodline previously reported. In August, a separate case involving a 21-year-old Crestline man was described.
What a Conviction Could Mean
Possession of child pornography under Penal Code 311.11 is described in the provided sources as a felony, although certain circumstances may result in a misdemeanor. A conviction can carry up to one year in county jail or up to three years in state prison, along with fines of as much as $2,500, according to the Law Offices of Anna R. Yum. The charging decision in Dene's case remains unclear.
Beyond jail time, a conviction under the statute triggers mandatory sex offender registration requirements under California's Sex Offender Registration Act, Penal Code 290, per Wallin & Klarich. That lifetime registration requirement applies following conviction, including for misdemeanor possession.
Department Urges Tips From the Public
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department is the agency involved in the investigation.
The Sheriff's Department is identified in connection with the investigation.
