LOS ANGELES—A former Beverly Hills-based licensed marriage and family therapist has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly distributing child sexual abuse material.

Ron Gad, 49, of the Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles, was charged March 21 with one count of distribution of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Mr. Gad, whose marriage and family therapist license expired in November, is free on $250,000 bond. He is expected to be arraigned May 3 in Los Angeles federal court.

According to the indictment, on Dec. 2, 2021, Mr. Gad knowingly distributed child sexual abuse material involving a pre-teen via the Internet and across state lines.

According to court documents, in the fall of 2022, law enforcement learned that Mr. Gad, who had a Beverly Hills office for his therapy practice, had engaged in sexually explicit online chats with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl, but who in fact was an undercover law enforcement officer.

In October 2022, Mr. Gad allegedly drove more than 180 miles from Beverly Hills to San Luis Obispo to a public park, an arranged meeting site where he believed he was to meet the “girl.” Law enforcement conducted a traffic stop, arrested Mr. Gad and seized several digital devices, according to an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint.

A search of Mr. Gad’s digital devices led to evidence of Mr. Gad’s distribution of child pornography, as well as communications with suspected minors and Internet searches related to sex with minors, the affidavit alleges.

The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office previously charged Mr. Gad in state court. That case was dismissed so Mr. Gad could be charged in federal court.

If convicted, Mr. Gad would face a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison up to a possible maximum sentence of 20 years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.