Idaho Falls man who had thousands of images of child pornography pleads guilty
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POCATELLO — An Idaho Falls man pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing child pornography.
Arnulfo Gonzalez-Torres, 22, recently pleaded guilty to felony possession of child pornography. According to court documents, Gonzalez-Torres told police that he knew he had at least 600 images of child pornography in his possession, but police suspected more 2,500 images of child pornography were on Gonzalez-Torres’ electronic devices.
Gonzalez-Torres, who had been facing a jury trial this month, opted to sign a plea agreement. In the agreement, obtained by EastIdahoNews.com, a federal judge can sentence Gonzalez-Torres to up to 20 years in prison. The judge may also order a term of supervised release of no less than five years and up to life.
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Federal felony possession of child pornography also allows the judge to impose a fine of up to $250,000 and order Gonzalez-Torres pay restitution to victims identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The investigation into Gonzalez-Torres began when the Idaho Falls Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Rexburg Police Department traced the download of child pornographic images to an IP address in Idaho Falls.
After obtaining a federal search warrant, investigators found the images on a computer and phone belonging to Gonzalez-Torres. During the investigation, Gonzolez-Torres told police he had in fact downloaded, viewed and masturbated to images of child pornography. As part of the plea agreement, he must give up the electronics he used to download the images.
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The 2,622 images and videos suspected of being child pornography contained many victims under the age of 18 and included infants being sexually abused by adults, according to police reports.
Gonzalez-Torres will have to register as a sex offender and have no contact with minors without prior permission of a probation officer.
A sentencing date has not been announced.