An investigation into the use of file-sharing programs to trade child porn has snared 11 men, including an ex-Los Angeles city fire engineer and—of interest to MPM—two dudes from Long Beach.
Steven David Lavinsky, 58, of Long Beach, is charged in a three-count federal indictment with advertising, distributing and possessing child pornography in a case involving the Gigatribe file-sharing program. He faces five to 20 years in federal prison with a conviction.
Michael Becerra, 30, of Long Beach, faces charges in state court for alleged possession of kiddie porn and a sentence of 10 to 20 years in state prison if found guilty.
Luis Gutierrez was the engineer with the Los Angeles City Fire Department in 2013 when he allegedly used Internet connections at three different fire stations to download child porn found on his computer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, which notes the 49-year-old Chino resident was previously indicted on two counts of receiving kiddie porn and one count of possessing it.
“Those who trade in child pornography inflict great harm on the most vulnerable in our society by re-victimizing the children in the existing pornography as well as by fueling a market that requires new child victims,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker of the Los Angeles office in a statement.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.