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Pico Rivera Teen Charged in Revenge Porn Case

19 year old Cesar Mauricio Estrada-Davila of Pico Rivera faces charges of 150 counts in a revenge porn case.  Authorities say Estrada is accused of extorting young girls into sending him naked pictures.

Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami says Estrada reportedly reached out to 21 young girls between the ages of 12 and 17, making friends with them between January and April 2015 on social networking websites including Facebook and Kik.  Authorities say he allegedly told the girls he was a modeling agent who could make them famous online. Estrada then asked the girls to send him pictures in their underwear.  The prosecutor says after receiving the images, Estrada allegedly told the victims he was going to send the pictures to their friends and family if they did not send nude pictures.

Cesar Mauricio Estrada DavilaAfter one of the victims told their parents what was happening, they contacted law enforcement.  The Los Angeles County Special Victims Bureau investigated the case for several months before arresting Estrada, interviewing alleged victims in 8 States including California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Washington.   Authorities interviewed some of the young girls in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, and in the cities of San Francisco and Visalia.  When they served a warrant at Estrada’s Pico Rivera home in the 8300 Block of Rosemead Blvd., searching his computer and social media sites, investigators say they found 26,000 pages of conversations and text messages between Estrada and young Hispanic girls.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has charged Estrada with 109 felony and 42 misdemeanor counts:  21 counts of possession of child or youth pornography; 21 counts of obscene matter; 21 counts of activity involving material depicting sexual conduct; 21 counts of distributing or showing child or youth pornography to a minor; 21 counts of contact with a minor for sexual offense; 21 counts of disorderly conduct by distributing a private intimate image of a minor causing emotional distress; 21 counts of extortion; and four counts of lewd act upon a child.  Authorities say the felony complaint includes a special allegation that there were multiple victims.

During his arraignment Friday at the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Antelope Valley Branch, Estrada’s bail was set at $3.08 million.  If convicted as charged, he could face several life sentences in state prison.

 

Authorities warn that to keep kids safe while online, parents should take some steps including:

  • Letting children know the best tool a child has for screening material found on the Internet is his or her brain.
  • Teaching children about sexual exploitation, excessive violence, communication with strangers and other issues that concern child safety.
  • Monitoring children when they’re online and monitoring the time they spend online.
  • Telling children to always let a parent or responsible adult know if they find something scary or threatening on the Internet.
  • Teaching children never to give out their name, address, phone number, school or any other personal information.
  • Teaching children not to communicate with a person they have not physically met and/or personally know.

 

Police say even if predators have a “fake social media account” or they don’t use their real name, authorities can still find and prosecute them to the full extent of the law.