Arrest Made in Child Pornography Investigation

San Diego FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter announces the arrest of Joseph Valencia Gonzales II, age 36, on Monday, November 8, 2010.

On Monday, November 8, 2010, at approximately 1:15 p.m., Joseph Valencia Gonzales II was arrested by FBI and NCIS agents on Naval Base Coronado. At the time of his arrest, Gonzalez was sitting in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant, using the restaurant’s wireless Internet service to view and download child pornography. FBI and NCIS agents arrested Gonzales as he sat in the driver seat of his truck typing on a laptop computer in his lap.

In a criminal complaint filed November 9 2010, in U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, San Diego, California, Valencia was charged with possessing child pornography. Gonzalez’s laptop computer was found to contain at least 42 image files and three videos depicting child pornography.

It is anticipated that Valencia will be booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) followed by his initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge.

If convicted, Valencia faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the child pornography charge.

This investigation was assisted by the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, whose members include the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the Chula Vista Police Department, the United States Attorney’s Office, the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the United States Marshals Service, the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the National City Police Department, the La Mesa Police Department, the Oceanside Police Department, the El Cajon Police Department, the San Diego State University Police Department, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

This case was brought about as part of the Department of Justice Project Safe Childhood (PSC), and the FBI’s Innocent Images National Initiative (IINI). Both are nationwide initiatives designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. For more information please visit www.fbi.gov, www.projectsafechildhood.gov, or the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children web page at www.sdicac.org.

An arrest itself is not evidence that the defendant committed crimes charged. The defendant is presumed innocent until the government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.