DHS Man Pleads Guilty to Alleged Possession of Matter Depicting Child Sexually

INDIO (CNS) – A Desert Hot Springs man pleaded guilty Monday to possessing sexual images of a minor and is set to be sentenced next month.

Pedro Alfredo Elizalde pleaded guilty Monday to one felony count of possessing matter depicting a minor in a sexual act, according to court records. He additionally admitted to sentence-enhancements of images portraying a minor sexually and images of a minor under 12 years old.

He’s set to be sentenced Aug. 8 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

Police detectives and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office Child Exploitation Team investigated the online exploitation of children by a suspect in Desert Hot Springs, according to Christopher Saucier of the Desert Hot Springs Police Department.

Saucier said that detectives authored various search warrants and identified Elizalde as the suspect. Police did not specify what was found during the search at his residence.

Elizalde was arrested in Banning the morning of Oct. 11, 2022, and was taken back to his residence in Desert Hot Springs, where detectives executed a search warrant, according to Saucier.

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