A San Fernando Valley man was indicted Tuesday for allegedly using Instagram to post and sell sexually explicit photos of high school girls without their consent and threatening to post more images in a sextortion scheme.
A federal grand jury indicted Alejandro Garcia Aranda, 23, of Sylmar, with promoting child pornography and distributing child pornography, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. and disseminating threatening communications with intent to extort.
The June 27 indictment alleges that Aranda posted sexually explicit photos on an Instagram account called “valleyhoezzz818” with the stated goal of humiliating women in the Valley. He allegedly targeted girls who attended San Fernando Valley schools and used Cash App, Venmo, PayPal and Zelle to sell sexually explicit merchandise.
Aranda sent the images to customers via direct messages on Instagram after receiving payment, authorities said. When the girls discovered that the photos were being promoted and circulated, Aranda allegedly attempted to obtain more photos from them by threatening to post more photos online.
If convicted, Aranda faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison for the child pornography charge, five to 20 years for the child pornography charge, and up to two years for the racketeering charge. .
