United States of America v. Alejandro Garcia Aranda

Los Angeles, California criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with Using Instagram to Advertise and Distribute Child Sexual Abuse Material

Sylmar Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Using Instagram to Advertise and Distribute Child Sexual Abuse Material

Alejandro Garcia Aranda, 23, of Sylmar, of San Fernando Valley, was indicted for using Instagram to advertise sexually explicit images of high school girls without their permission, to distribute child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and to threaten victims who objected to his behavior.



Alejandro Garcia Aranda, 23, of Sylmar, was sentenced by United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr., who also

Garcia Aranda pleaded guilty in November 2024 to one count of distribution of child pornography. He has been in federal custody since July 2024.



In April and May of 2020, Garcia Aranda used the Instagram handle "valleyhoezzz818” with the self-proclaimed goal of "[e]xposing all valley hoes with their @'s” to target local girls who attended schools in the San Fernando Valley.



Using Cash App, PayPal, Venmo, and Zelle, Garcia Aranda received payments from customers who wanted to obtain sexually explicit content of the victims that he had advertised and offered to sell on the Instagram account. After receiving and confirming payment, using the Instagram account, Garcia Aranda then sent a direct message to customers and provided a link to a zip file containing the CSAM.



When victims discovered that sexually explicit materials depicting them were being advertised and disseminated by Garcia Aranda and requested that he stop and remove them, Garcia Aranda attempted to extract further additional sexually explicit material from them, including by threatening to post additional photographs.



Garcia Aranda admitted to knowingly distributing CSAM – three sexually explicit videos and one sexually explicit image involving children – in May 2020. Garcia Aranda further admitted to possessing more than 600 images of CSAM.



The FBI investigated this matter.



Assistant United States Attorney Kathy Yu prosecuted this case.