LOS ANGELES—A former West Covina planning commissioner pleaded guilty Monday, June 3, to federal criminal charges for distributing, receiving, and possessing child sexual abuse material and admitted to possessing hundreds of images and videos of sexually explicit material involving children, including infants and toddlers.
Herbert Redholtz, 74, of West Covina, pleaded guilty in downtown Los Angeles to five felonies: two counts of distribution of child pornography, two counts of receipt of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. Mr. Redholtz remains free on $20,000 bond, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to his plea agreement, from at least April 2014 to November 2014, Mr. Redholtz knowingly distributed, received, and possessed child pornography using his personal email account. Specifically, he possessed hundreds of illicit videos and images via his email account, which he accessed from his personal computer while at home.
Mr. Redholtz’s email account contained approximately 448 images and 109 videos depicting sexually explicit content involving children as well as 402 images and 25 videos depicting child sexual material. This account also contained about 1,109 emails containing evidence of similar images sent to or from Mr. Redholtz’s email address, federal prosecutors said.
Mr. Redholtz admitted in his plea agreement filed in Los Angeles federal court that he knew the production of such visual depictions involved minors, including victims under the age of 12 years old being used for sexual acts, including infants and toddlers.
U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi scheduled an Oct. 7 sentencing hearing, at which time Mr. Redholtz will face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison for each child pornography distribution and receipt count, and a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison for each count charged, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Mr. Redholtz was charged in Los Angeles Superior Court after his arrest in March 2021 for allegedly possessing the material. That charge was dismissed so the federal case against Mr. Redholtz could proceed.
