A former elementary school teacher in the San Gabriel Valley was arraigned Friday on federal charges of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material.
Steven Pilar, 47, of Las Vegas, was employed at a school in La Puente when he knowingly received and downloaded over 400 videos and images of child pornography in 2020, according to the United States Department of Justice.
“This defendant, whose former job put him in a position of trust with children, is accused of participating in an underground market that trades on the sexual exploitation of kids,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “Protecting children from sexual predators is critical and my office will be unrelenting in our efforts to punish those who commit these crimes.”
Pilar was arrested earlier this month in Las Vegas on state charges, which were later dropped to pursue a federal case instead, officials said.
On Friday, Pilar was arraigned for charges in a four-count federal indictment with two counts of receiving child pornography and two counts of possessing child pornography.
The DOJ says if convicted, Pilar would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 80 years in federal prison.