A Simi Valley teen faces nearly two dozen felony charges for allegedly using a minor for sex and possessing more than 600 images depicting the sexual exploitation of children and infants, authorities said Friday.
The 17-year-old was arrested Tuesday after the FBI served a search warrant at his home, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
The raids and arrests were made after the District Attorney’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Unit launched an investigation in August after receiving multiple reports of widespread distribution of child pornography online, prosecutors said.
The teen, who is being held at the Ventura County Juvenile Jail in Oxnard, faces 15 felony counts of using a minor for sexual conduct and seven felony counts related to possession and distribution of child pornography, according to authorities.
The teen also faces two special charges for possessing more than 600 images of child sexual abuse material and images depicting sadomasochistic behavior, according to authorities.
The teen, whose name has not been released, made his first court appearance Thursday and will attend a pretrial conference on Dec. 31.
The Simi Valley Police Department and the Ventura County High Tech Task Force assisted the FBI in executing the search warrant.
