A Santa Barbara man who was arrested in November is facing multiple federal charges for allegedly producing and distributing child pornography.
A federal grand jury handed down a six-count indictment in December against Louis Anthony Alvaro, 47, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
The complaint against Alvaro alleges criminal acts that occurred in March and April of 2019, and July and December of 2020.
Alvaro has been charged with one count of producing child pornography, three counts of distributing child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
Alvaro has pleaded not guilty to the charges, Mrozek told Noozhawk, and is being held without bail in federal custody.
His trial is scheduled to begin on May 31.
The indictment alleges that Alvaro “knowingly employed and used Minor Victim 1, who had not attained the age of 18 years, to engage in sexually explicit conduct…for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct.”
The complaint references images of the alleged child pornography.
The indictment further alleges that Alvaro “knowingly distributed images of child pornography” using an internet-based messaging application.
Additionally, the indictment accuses Alvaro of possessing a cell phone containing at least one image of child pornography that “involved a prepubescent minor and a minor who had not attained 12 years of age…”
If convicted, the various criminal counts could carry prison terms of five to 30 years, Mrozek said.
The Santa Barbara Police Department arrested Alvaro in November and he was initially booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail.
Investigators are seeking information from the public in identifying any other possible victims that have not reported child-pornography crimes involving Alvaro to law enforcement, according to Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale.
“We are asking anyone or any parent/guardian whose child has been in contact with Alvaro prior to his arrest to please contact Detective Andre Miller at the Santa Barbara Police Department,” Ragsdale said.
Miller can be contacted at 805.897.2346 or amiller@sbpd.com.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.