SoCal Man Accused of Using Instagram to Advertise and Sell Explicit Images of Teens

The defendant used Instagram to gather, advertise, and sell photos of high school girls, federal authorities say. AFP via Getty Images

A San Fernando Valley man was arrested July 2 on suspicion of using Instagram to advertise pornography depicting high school girls without their permission and threatening victims who objected to his behavior, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles announced.

Alejandro Garcia Aranda, 23, of Sylmar was charged by federal authorities with one count each of advertisement of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, and transmitting threatening communications with the intent to extort.

A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment June 27 alleging Mr. Aranda used his Instagram account named “valleyhoezzz818” to target local girls who attended schools in the San Fernando Valley, a suburban area about 20 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Federal officials say he proclaimed his goal was “exposing all valley hoes with their @’s,” which he did by posting revealing images he found on Instagram pages.

Mr. Aranda allegedly used financial applications including Cash App, PayPal, Venmo, and Zelle to receive payments from customers who wanted to access the content he advertised on his Instagram account.

After receiving and confirming payment, Mr. Aranda then allegedly sent a direct message to customers with a link to a zip file containing the sexually explicit photographs of the victims, according to federal authorities.

When victims discovered their photos were being advertised and disseminated by Mr. Aranda, they asked him to stop and remove them, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Mr. Ararnda allegedly then tried to get more sexually explicit material from them, and threatened to post more photographs if they didn’t comply, according to the office.

Mr. Aranda’s arraignment was set for July 2 in Los Angeles District Court. If convicted on all charges, Mr. Aranda faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for the child pornography advertisement count.

For the child pornography distribution count, he faces a minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and up to 20 years for a maximum sentence.

He also faces up to two years in federal prison on the count involving making threats.

The FBI investigated the case.