SANTA ANA, CALIF. – A commercial firefighter who resides in Huntington Beach plead guilty Friday 
to a federal charge of attempting to produce child pornography.
John McArthur, 57, a California-licensed firefighter captain currently employed by ConocoPhillips at its oil refinery in San Pedro, sent money to what he believed was a young girl from the Philippines to buy a camera and take sexually explicit photos of herself and an 11-year-old friend.
An investigation indicated that in 2012, McArthur had online conversations with a person he believed was a 13-year-old girl in the Philippines.
During those online conversations, McArthur agreed to send money for the purchase of a camera that would be used to take sexually explicit photographs of the girl and an 11-year-old friend. McArthur later went to a Western Union agent to transfer the money to the 13-year-old minor, officials stated.
McArthur didn’t know that the person posing as the 13-year-old girl was Robert Oliver Clark, 75, a U.S.citizen residing in the Philippines.
Clark was arrested in September 2014 in a related case, and he has agreed to plead guilty to possession of child pornography.
In a plea agreement, Clark admitted that he “possessed, in his computer hard drive and in his email accounts, 5,443 images and 53 videos of child pornography, including 43 images and 1 video portraying sadistic or masochistic conduct and 16 images portraying toddlers,” according to authorities.
Clark resided in Texas prior to moving to the Philippines.
During this investigation, law enforcement authorities also discovered that McArthur received hundreds of images and several videos of child pornography through his email accounts.
McArthur is scheduled to be sentenced on August 21. He is facing up to 30 years in federal prison, officials said.
“Protecting children from crimes of sexual abuse and exploitation is a priority for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service,” stated Robert Wemyss, Inspector in Charge for the Los Angeles Division.