SANTA ANA, California
A former social worker in Orange County was sentenced Monday to eight years in federal prison for distributing computer video files that contained sexually explicit videos depicting children, including infants and toddlers.
U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney sentenced Carlos Castillo, 62, of Santa Ana. Carney also ordered Castillo to pay $40,000 in restitution to his victims.
Castillo, who was remanded into federal custody Monday, pleaded guilty on January 11 to single-count information charging him with the distribution of child pornography, according to authorities.
Castillo worked at Orange County’s Social Services Agency from May 2002 to January 2020.
Beginning in August 2007, Castillo was a placement senior social worker whose responsibilities included assessing applicants’ suitability to provide care of children who are in protective custody, completing a home and grounds environment assessment, and placing children into homes.
In November 2019, Castillo knowingly distributed child pornography consisting of three video files to an undercover law enforcement official.
Castillo, using the screen name “Ratster12” as a member of a child pornography group that used the LiveMe application, posted a link to another webpage containing three videos depicting prepubescent children, including infants and toddlers, who were being sexually assaulted by adults and other children.
Source: FBI
Castillo admitted in his plea agreement that in January 2020 he possessed a Dell computer, two flash drives and an Apple iPhone that contained at least 1,027 videos and 914 images of child pornography.
Castillo further admitted that he possessed videos of minors undressing that Castillo had recorded from LiveMe.
In addition, he admitted to possession of pictures of minors in public without the authorization or knowledge of the minors or their parents.
“The victims (and their families) must live with the reality that images and videos of their childhood victimization will live on in the Internet forever,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum.
The FBI investigated this matter.