-Editorial
Eric Ayala, a registered sex offender, has accepted an eight-year prison sentence for possession of child sex abuse material (CSAM) and failure to register as a sex offender. Ayala’s prior conviction for lewd acts with a child under 14 occurred in 1998, requiring him to register as a sex offender.
The investigation began in January 2024 after Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agents with the Imperial Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (IV-ICAC) received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding CSAM uploads. The subsequent investigation, which included surveillance, revealed Ayala was living in El Centro and not in compliance with his registration requirements.
In February 2024, the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation, in conjunction with Senior Deputy District Attorney John Harter, obtained an arrest warrant for Ayala for failure to register. He was arrested in March 2024 and has remained in custody since.
Simultaneously, IV-ICAC executed search warrants and interviewed Ayala, leading to charges of CSAM possession. Four devices seized from Ayala contained approximately 1,200 images and videos of CSAM.
Deputy District Attorney Belen Verdugo of the District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Unit filed CSAM possession charges against Ayala in October 2024 and subsequently prosecuted both cases. The District Attorney’s Office highlighted the collaborative effort between their office and the IV-ICAC, which facilitated Ayala’s quick arrest for failure to register, allowing time for the CSAM investigation.
Ayala is scheduled to be sentenced on March 13, 2025.
