A Hilo grand jury on Wednesday indicted a 35-year-old Mountain View man Wednesday for possessing child pornography.
The two-count indictment charges Albert Reginald Carvalho Jr. with for two counts of promoting child abuse in the second degree for possessing videos and images of child sexual abuse on his computer and cellphone.
According to a written statement from Attorney General Doug Chin, Carvalho allegedly possessed at least 962 files of children being sexually exploited, with at least 575 depicting children under the age of 12.
The investigation was conducted by the Hawaii Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in the Attorney General’s office in conjunction with Homeland Security Investigations and the Hawaii Police Department.
The indictment lists the date of the offenses as Feb. 18, 2016.
“These charges involving sexual exploitation are horrific in scale,” said Chin. “This is abuse with a lasting negative impact on children. My office will prosecute those who engage in this destructive behavior.”
The charges are Class B felonies that, upon conviction, are punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Bail is set at $10,000 on each charge and a bench warrant has been issued for the arrest of Carvalho, who has no prior convictions.