SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Police Department have arrested several people for their role in targeting children online. According to a press release from the SFPD, officials from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit commenced an investigation into an individual who was posting child pornography images on a blog. The ICAC Unit was able to identify the individual as Nicholas Fong, 24, of San Francisco resident.

On October 4, SFPD investigators conducted a search warrant at Fong’s home on the 500 block of Lombard Street. Investigators located a cellphone belonging to Fong which contained hundreds of child pornography videos and images depicting juvenile minors being sexually abused. During a subsequent search, investigators found that Fong was storing child pornography in several cloud storage applications. He was arrested and booked at the San Francisco County Jail for possession of child pornography, and possession of over 600 files of child pornography.

The SFPD ICAC Unit began an investigation into an individual who was uploading child pornography to a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing network. The ICAC Unit identified the suspect as Donald Wright, 58, of San Francisco and an IT specialist. On October 11, SFPD investigators conducted a search warrant at Wright’s home on the 1000 block of Sutter Street.

Nicholas Fong.
Photo courtesy of the SFPD.

During the search, investigators found dozens of media devices belonging to Wright which contained hundreds of child pornography videos and images depicting juvenile minors being sexually abused. He was arrested and booked at the San Francisco County Jail for possession of child pornography, and possession of over 600 files of child pornography. The ICAC Unit also began an investigation into an individual who was hosting child pornography images on a blog. The ICAC Unit identified the suspect as Elihu Hernandez, 43, of San Francisco.

On October 16, SFPD investigators conducted a search warrant at Hernandez’s home on the 200 block of Eddy Street. Investigators located a cellphone belonging to Hernandez , which contained child pornography videos and images depicting juvenile minors being sexually abused. During an additional search, investigators found that Hernandez was storing child pornography on several cellphone applications.

The suspect was arrested and booked at the San Francisco County Jail for possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. In the fall of 2018, the ICAC Unit started an investigation into an individual who was uploading child pornography to a P2P file sharing network. The ICAC Unit identified the suspect as Trevor Schlesinger, 37, of San Francisco.

On October 25, SFPD investigators conducted a search warrant at Schlesinger’s home on the 200 block of Mallorca Way. Investigators located a laptop belonging to Schlesinger, which contained child pornography videos and images depicting juvenile minors being sexually abused. He was arrested and booked at the San Francisco County Jail for possession of child pornography.

Steven Sabin.
Photo courtesy of the SFPD.

The ICAC Unit began an investigation into an individual who was distributing child pornography through an on line social media application in the fall of 2018. Authorities identified the individual who hosted the child pornography as Steven Sabin, 59, of San Francisco and a Lutheran pastor for a San Francisco church.

On Thursday, November 15, SFPD investigators conducted a search warrant at Sabin’s home on the 1300 block of Market Street. Investigators located a cellphone belonging to Sabin, which contained hundreds of child pornography videos and images depicting juvenile minors being sexually abused. During another search, investigators found that Sabin was storing child pornography on a cloud storage application.

Sabin was arrested and booked at the San Francisco County Jail for possession of child pornography, possession of over 600 files of child pornography, and distribution of child pornography. The SFPD would like to inform the public that while arrests have been made in each of these cases the investigations remain active and ongoing. Anyone who may have had suspicious contact with any of individuals arrested is asked to contact the SFPD Tip Line at (415) 575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. Tipsters may remain anonymous.