Crime & Safety

La Quinta Nurse Caught with Child Porn Sentenced to 10 Years

The La Quinta man was arrested in 2011 as part of a large child pornography sweep in the Inland Empire.

The following article was reported by City News Service.

A Riverside County nurse caught trying to send child pornography to a girl via the Internet was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison.

David Christopher Jelaca, 38, of La Quinta pleaded guilty in March to attempted distribution of child pornography to a minor. U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips imposed the sentence called for under the plea agreement.

Jelaca, a registered nurse, was originally charged with four felony counts connected to a federal investigation targeting child porn traders in 2011.
Seven other Inland Empire men were snared in the same sting. Their cases have either been resolved or are awaiting trial.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Jelaca came to the attention of federal investigators when he posted an advertisement on Craigslist seeking to make contact with a "Dirty Daddy who likes to share his daughter's dirty panties."

Undercover agents from the Imperial Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force -- comprised of FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, as well as members of other law enforcement agencies -- began communicating with Jelaca via email, posing as respondents to his ad, according to federal prosecutors.

"Jelaca acknowledged having had sexual intercourse with girls as young as 15 and fantasizing about sexual relations with girls as young as 12," said U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek.

Agents searched the defendant's home, seizing more than 26,000 still images and 55 movie files containing child porn, Mrozek said.

The child exploitation crackdown that led to charges against Jelaca and the other defendants stemmed from investigations initiated under ICE's Operation Predator and the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood.


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