Oakdale Youth Pastor Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Child Porn Charge

By Rosalio Ahumada
Modesto Bee
March 20, 2014

http://www.modbee.com/2014/03/20/3250856/oakdale-youth-pastor-pleads-not.html

During his arraignment hearing Thursday in federal court in Fresno, an Oakdale youth pastor pleaded not guilty to a charge of downloading child pornography.

Tyler David Bliss, 27, of Oakdale is accused of downloading the child porn with computers at his home and his church, where he at times viewed some of the illicit images, according to a federal affidavit.

Bliss was served with a federal arrest warrant and taken away in handcuffs Wednesday afternoon shortly after local prosecutors dropped a state charge of child porn possession.

The following day, a federal grand jury indicted Bliss, charging him with one count of receiving and distributing child pornography, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara McAuliffe scheduled Bliss to return to court June 2 for a pretrial hearing.

In the meantime, the judge ordered Bliss to remain in federal custody until Thursday, when McAuliffe will hold a detention hearing. The judge then will determine whether to set a bail amount or keep Bliss in custody.

If convicted, Bliss faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and supervised release for the rest of his life, federal prosecutors said.

Also Thursday, the federal grand jury indicted Allan Kendrick, 47, an Escalon man accused of downloading child porn images using Internet accounts associated with homes in Escalon and Modesto, federal prosecutors said.

The investigations into the suspected criminal activities of both defendants started the same way – when Google Inc. discovered child porn images that appeared on Google email accounts.

In Bliss’ case, Google alerted authorities and the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force launched an investigation. Ceres police Detective Britton Moore is assigned to the federally funded task force.

Moore determined that Bliss’ email account had been used extensively for the purpose of trading in child pornography, according the federal affidavit filed March 14. Investigators found on the account 286 images associated with the sexual exploitation of children and other child erotica, including bondage, the affidavit said.

During questioning at the Ceres Police Department, Bliss told investigators he paid $12.95 per month for a website subscription to access the child porn images. He told investigators he sent the images to four other email accounts, where he stored the images, according to the affidavit.

FBI special agent Mark Lucas wrote in the affidavit that those trading in child porn often have numerous email accounts, because email service providers will close down accounts as soon child porn images are discovered. Google closed Bliss’ account Dec. 2, soon after the company said it discovered an illicit image of two girls who appeared to be 5 to 8 years old.

Bliss was a youth minister at Bethel Church when he was arrested Feb. 17. The Oakdale church on G Street is affiliated with the Assemblies of God.

Investigators also found sexually explicit images of an underage girl with whom Bliss has had a relationship, according to the affidavit. The images were sent by cellphone from the girl to Bliss. The FBI agent said Bliss developed the relationship with the girl through his work as a youth pastor.

Bliss had served in youth ministry at the church since 2009 and oversaw junior high, high school and college programs while pursuing a preaching license with the Assemblies of God.

In the other child porn case, Kendrick was indicted on one count of receiving and distributing child pornography from June through December.

Google notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Dec. 10 after discovering six images of suspected child porn. Moore, the Ceres police detective, followed up on the report and discovered that the Google account in question had been accessed from homes in Modesto and Escalon.

When he was arrested last month, Kendrick was a registered sex offender on GPS monitoring after a conviction of child molestation and child porn possession, authorities said.

The GPS records confirmed that Kendrick was at the Modesto and Escalon homes when the child porn had been accessed, according to a criminal complaint filed against Kendrick.

Investigators served search warrants at the two homes and seized computers and other electronic devices. Ceres police have said an initial forensic examination of the computer equipment found the child porn images.

Federal prosecutors said Kendrick has been ordered detained because he is considered “a danger to the community” and a risk to leave the area to avoid prosecution. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. If convicted, Kendrick faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and supervised release for the rest of his life.

Investigators ask anyone with information relevant to the Bliss case to call the Modesto area office of the FBI at ( 209) 543-7846.