Jonathan Wells booking photo
SANTA CRUZ — The Santa Cruz Police Department has concluded a 5-month investigation with the arrest of a Soquel man accused of distributing child pornography. With the help of the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce (ICAC), police have apprehended 43-year-old Jonathan Wells of Soquel.
In December of 2015, police began investigating a network suspected of distributing child pornography. With the help of ICAC investigators, police infiltrated the network over the next 5 months using an undercover identity.
The group was able to access shared files containing child pornography, including files shared by Wells. Further investigation quickly identified Wells as the source on this particular network.
Armed with this information, investigators secured a search warrant for Wells’ home. A number of computers and external drives were seized, many of which were used to download and provide child pornography to the network. With evidence mounting against him, Wells confessed to both downloading and distributing the content.
He has been arrested and booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on possession of child pornography, with bail at $5,000.
Police also recovered 39 firearms and are investigating whether or he owns them legally.
