Chico Man Arrested for Possession of Child Pornography

San Diego FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter announces the arrest of Amado Nicholas Hernandez, age 31, of Chico, California. Hernandez was arrested on Sunday, January 2, 2011, at approximately 8:30 a.m., as he arrived on board a cruise ship at the Port of San Diego.

Hernandez was arrested by FBI agents based on information developed from an investigation conducted by the Sacramento FBI. According to the affidavit in support of a federal criminal complaint filed in this matter, Hernandez is alleged to have received and possessed child pornography in violation of federal laws.

In the summer of 2010, the Sacramento Division of the FBI received information from a deputy of the Glenn County Sheriff’s Department regarding a computer he received from a concerned citizen. The concerned citizen had received the computer at an estate sale in Chico, California. The computer had been given away by a woman holding the estate sale because the computer was thought to be broken. The person who received the computer was a technician who was able to repair the computer. Once the computer was repaired, the concerned citizen discovered images of child pornography on the hard drive. The concerned citizen promptly turned the computer over to law enforcement.

A law enforcement forensic review of the computer revealed that there were approximately 450 still images files of child pornography and approximately 250 video files of child pornography on the abandoned computer. Additional review of the computer and address checks for the estate sale residence linked Hernandez to both the computer and residence.

The still and video images found on Hernandez’s computer were forwarded to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which compared those files with images of known child pornography victims. NCMEC subsequently reported that 43 of the submitted videos files were of known child victims from 15 different identifiable series of child pornography. Additionally, NCMEC reported that there were 72 child pornography still images from 35 different identifiable series of child pornography. As there were some video and image files from the same series, there were a total of 44 different child victims who appeared in video or image files on the abandoned computer.

On Monday, January 3, 2011, a federal arrest warrant was authorized by a U.S. Magistrate Judge, from the United States District Court, Eastern District of California, charging Hernandez with receiving and possessing child pornography.

On Monday, January 3, 2011, Hernandez was booked into the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC). Hernandez is expected to appear before a U.S. Magistrate Judge, on Tuesday, January 4, 2011.

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.