Police arrested a 59-year-old man last week after confirming that he had uploaded child pornography to YouTube from his San Francisco apartment, police said Friday.
The Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Unit began an investigation in September after they learned someone was uploading child pornography to the internet sharing video website from an address in the city's Mission Bay neighborhood, according to police.
The material being uploaded allegedly involved a prepubescent child performing sex acts on an adult.
After a months-long investigation, police were able to confirm the videos were being uploaded by a resident at an apartment in the 600 block of Long Bridge Street, police said.
On Dec. 29, officers executed a search warrant at the residence and found several media devices belonging to a resident at the apartment, identified as Gerard Jones, all of which contained hundreds of videos and images depicting prepubescent children engaging in sexual acts. Among the illegal material, investigators found videos involving children as young as one years old having sexual acts performed on them by adults, according to police.
Officers were able to track Jones to a nearby coffee shop and detained him. He was later arrested on suspicion of possession of child pornography, possession of over 600 files of child pornography, production of child pornography, sending harmful material to a minor and distribution of child pornography, police said.
In addition to the pornography discovery, investigators also learned Jones had allegedly traveled to London several years before to have sex with a minor. Police are continuing to investigate that claim.
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Police are asking anyone who thinks they may have had any suspicious contact with Jones to call the department's Special Victim's Unit at 415-558-5500.
