Transient in Rancho Palos Verdes faces prison time for possessing child pornography
A local transient is due in court later this month after authorities discovered a flash drive with pornographic images of children in his possession at a homeless encampment in Rancho Palos Verdes.
If convicted, Andres Torres, 47, could face up to three years in prison and be required to register as a sex offender.
A Lomita sheriff’s detective was investigating an unrelated burglary on Dec. 12 when he came across a flash drive inside an abandoned property at the encampment, said Lomita sheriff’s Sgt. Peter Hahn of the Special Victims Bureau. The flash drive held numerous pictures of “boys and young men in sexual positions and in various states undressed,” Sgt. Hahn said.
The detective returned to the station with the flash drive and other property found at the site in hopes of identifying the owner or a possible crime victim, and discovered a California driver’s license belonging to Torres. When he later arrived at the station to reclaim his property, he encountered the detective that handled the case and was arrested, Sgt. Hahn said.
He was held in county jail on $20,000 bail but was later released on recognizance, or promise to appear.
On Dec. 16, authorities presented the case in the High Technology Crimes Division of the District Attorney’s office. Torres was charged with one count of possession of child pornography.
He is due in court on Jan. 28 at a Los Angeles Superior Court for a preliminary hearing.