Release Date/Time: 5/29/2013 4:12 PM
Incident: Operation Monterey County Chicken Hawk
Date: Wednesday, 5/29/2013
Time: 4:12 PM
Seven Monterey County men were arrested Wednesday following a sweep of suspected child pornography users and distributors.
87 detectives from 27 different agencies collaborated with the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes against Children Task Force to launch the sweep.
Local detectives included teams from Salinas, Marina and San Jose Police Departments, the Monterey County Sheriff's Department, the FBI and Homeland Security. A cluster of suspected child pornography users detected in Monterey County led the SVICAC Task Force to launch the sweep, which began early Wednesday morning. Officers armed with warrants searched six homes in Salinas, Marina and Castroville. Computers with pornographic images and other evidence linking the men to the distribution and or possession of child pornography were seized.
Those arrested include Salinas residents, Curt Tamanaha (30) Howard Daly (56), Miguel Marquez Rodriguez (26), Paulino Maldonado (29) and Jaime Maldonado (21). Also arrested were Eric Olsen (40) of Marina and Jorge Vargas (24) of Castroville. The 10-year-old Silicon Valley task force is one of 61 around the nation targeting suspects via peer-to-peer file sharing online and chatroom decoy operations. Investigators determine who is downloading child pornography images online and carry out search warrants for those people's homes.
A key feature of the task force arsenal is a mobile forensics lab that allows investigators in a technology-stocked van to drive up to a suspect's home, seize hard drives and immediately begin searching for evidence that would normally take months to obtain from a state Department of Justice lab. The SVICAC Task Force has arrested over 250 men for possession of child pornography in the last 2 years. The task force has conducted a number of child porn sweeps in the Bay Area over the last few months, including multiple arrests in Santa Clara County and San Francisco. The Task Force last conducted a child porn sweep in Monterey County in November of 2011, where 5 suspects were arrested for felony possession of child pornography. For information about the SVICAC Task Force, contact San Jose Police Sgt. Gregory Lombardo at (408) 5371397 or at 3439@sanjoseca.gov.
Release authorized by: SPD Officer Miguel Cabrera
Telephone: 758-7348