Riverside, California - An attorney with a law practice in Ontario was taken into federal custody Thursday on a charge of producing child pornography that alleges he paid a teenaged girl to send him sexually explicit images.
Sagi Schwartzberg, 38, of Fontana, was taken into custody by special agents with the FBI after the San Bernardino County District Attorney on Wednesday dismissed its child exploitation charges against him. Schwartzberg – who used the aliases “Jason D,” “drunkesq_o64” and “xocdrunkx” on social media platforms – is expected to be arraigned on the federal charge this afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside.
Schwartzberg is named in a federal criminal complaint, filed on April 27 and unsealed today, that charges him with production of child pornography, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.
Schwartzberg was arrested February 17 in the state case, approximately three months after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children forwarded a tip from Kik, a mobile messaging application, to the Fontana Police Department. The tip indicated that a person later identified as Schwartzberg had uploaded suspected child pornography to Kik from two locations – later determined to be his residence and his law office – in October and November. The FBI later reviewed the videos, one of which depicts a girl who appears to be under the age of 10 being sexually assaulted, according to the affidavit in support of the complaint.
During a search on February 17, Fontana Police officers seized Schwartzberg’s mobile phone, which had a hidden vault containing file folders, labeled with girls’ names, one of which contained sexually explicit images and videos of a girl who is now 15 years old, the affidavit alleges.
During a subsequent interview with police officers outlined in the affidavit, the girl said she had been solicited by Schwartzberg to send sexually explicit images via SnapChat starting 2019 and that she had received electronic gift cards in exchange. The victim “reported that ‘Jason’ asked her to meet up with him for sex but she never agreed to it,” the affidavit states. “‘Jason’ also asked her to introduce him to her other friends but [the victim] claimed that she did not introduce him to any of her friends.”
Fontana Police also identified another victim, currently 17 years old, who had sent images to Schwartzberg via SnapChat when she was 16, sometimes in response to specific instructions, according to the affidavit, which notes authorities have identified at least two other minor victims who also sent images to Schwartzberg.
The FBI continues to work to identify other victims in this case. Anyone who may have information in this matter is encouraged to contact the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office at 310-477-6565.
This matter is being investigating by the FBI in conjunction with Fontana Police Department, as part of Inland Regional Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The Task Force also includes the Upland Police Department, the Rialto Police Department, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the Riverside Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Sonah Lee of the Riverside Branch Office is prosecuting this case.
