Josue Vidal Quintanilla, a former mathematics teacher at Shandin Hills Middle School in San Bernardino, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison April 3 after pleading guilty to distributing child pornography.
Vidal had 1,500 images and 724 videos of child pornography on his messaging accounts, prosecutors said.
He pleaded guilty in October 2021 to sharing one piece of child pornography to another Snapchat user in August 2020.
He was fired from his teaching position soon after his arrest, according to a prosecutor’s document.
During the interview with Homeland Security Investigations agents, Vidal admitted regret.
“I completely regret it. Because I know that it was wrong and given what I do I just – I felt really guilty and, you know I’m not sure if you’ve been in a situation where you know you’re doing wrong but you – you have a hard time stopping? That’s – that’s, honestly, that’s how I felt. Every single day, just, I want to stop,” Vidal said, according to a transcript of the interview included in court documents.
Some of Vidal’s victims wrote impact statements.
“As a child I didn’t have a choice what happened to me. Now, I have to suffer twice; the first time was being abused and the second time is the ongoing anxiety due to the images of my abuse forever accessible. It’s impossible to cope with and accept that I have to live with the images of my abuse being available on the internet indefinitely,” one girl wrote.
“Pictures of me and my sister are all over the world on the internet. There is nothing we can do about it now except find the people with them, and give them great punishment,” a second girl wrote.
“I am about to graduate from college and I am afraid to even interview for jobs because I never know who has viewed my images,” a third girl wrote, whose pictures were shared when she was 12 years old.
Law enforcement were tipped off by the messaging applications Kik and Snapchat that Vidal’s account may have uploaded child pornography. The account was traced back to Vidal by his IP address, which was assigned to his Fontana home.
Vidal admitted to viewing child pornography since 2019 when questioned by HSI agents after they executed a search warrant at his home Sept. 23, 2020, the plea agreement says.
He gave HSI consent to take over his Snapchat accounts and email, and told them about other accounts in which he engaged in child pornography.
HSI agents found multiple conversations in Snapchat where Vidal exchanged child pornography with other Snapchat users, the agreement says.
During the HSI interview, he also admitted to masturbating with minors via video calls through Omegle, a randomized video call website.
Vidal had been in his third year teaching at Shandin Hills, he said. He denied in his interview ever having inappropriate contact with any of his students, and said he did not want any contact with his students.
Although he pleaded guilty to one count, Vidal was originally charged with five counts of distribution and receipt of child pornography based on his actions during August 2020.
United States attorneys Daniel Boyle and Nicole Hanna prosecuted.
Federal Public Defender Angela Viramontes defended.
California Central District Judge Jesus Bernal presided.
Case No. 5:20-cr-00192
Read the indictment here.
Read the plea agreement here.
Read the prosecutor’s sentencing position, including victim statements, here.
Vidal’s sentencing position is sealed.
