This Richland teen knows his way around the ‘dark web’ and child porn, claim investigators

A technologically savvy Richland teen is locked up with bail set $100,000 for allegedly using the “dark web” to access child pornography without detection.

Juan C. Gutierrez Cardenas, 19, pleaded innocent in Benton County Superior Court to one count each of first-degree dealing in and possessing sexually explicit depictions of children.

The 2018 Hanford High graduate was caught using one Facebook profile to upload and try to send a picture to another Facebook account, according to court documents.

The picture reportedly was of girls, between ages 5 and 8, engaged in a sex act.

Task force gets online tip

A tip came in on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline in June 2018 and was forwarded to the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

CyberTipline officials were able to share the usernames and email addresses connected with the two accounts, documents said.

Detective Scott Runge with the local task force then checked a database and found one email address is linked to a Richland home, where Gutierrez Cardenas lives with relatives, court documents said.

Search warrants showed that the IP addresses for the Facebook accounts “were assigned to particular companies and utilized by virtual private networks or ‘VPN’ products, effectively anonymizing the user of the IP address,” documents said.

The dark web, which requires a private browser for access, is said to be a nesting ground for criminal and illegal activity.

Files are hosted on a number of different servers and often encrypted, so it is difficult to track where users are located and what information or data they are searching and viewing.

Searched for ‘child porn’

Gutierrez Cardenas was arrested May 23 and interviewed by task force detectives. He allegedly admitted having child pornography on his iPhone 7, and proceeded to unlock it and show them pictures of adults having sex with young children.

Gutierrez Cardenas “explained that he would find these images on the dark web on his iMac using search terms such as ‘child porn,’” court documents said.

He then took screenshots of the pictures with his cellphone “to avoid having to download the images and getting caught,” documents said. He allegedly viewed the pictures for his sexual pleasure and then deleted them from his phone.

Gutierrez Cardenas told detectives that he had bookmarked some child pornography websites on private browsers on the dark web, court documents said. He also admitted creating two Facebook profiles to exchange images, documents said.

In court last week, Deputy Prosecutor Taylor Clark argued Gutierrez Cardenas’ bail should be set at $150,000 because he “presents a very real danger to the community.”

He fantasizes about having sex with young kids and has even gone to schools to watch girls playing, Clark said. The only reason he hasn’t acted on those fantasies is because he’s afraid of being caught, she said.

Expressed remorse to police

Defense attorney Norma Rodriguez argued that her client has been fully cooperating with police and expressed remorse for his actions. She requested $20,000 bail.

Gutierrez Cardenas also is only 19, has no criminal history, has the support of his mother and will seek treatment once released, she said.

Judge Alex Ekstrom said his concern was not only the demonstrated sophistication in taking certain steps to avoid detection, but also the ability to sufficiently monitor Gutierrez Cardenas’ behavior on electronic devices if he’s out of jail.

Ekstrom added that along with the alleged attraction to minors, this level of proficiency is not present in other cases so the threat to the community is higher.

He set his bail at $100,000, noting that Gutierrez Cardenas’ clean record was in his favor. Trial is set for July 22.