Former West Covina planning commissioner admits distribution and possession of child pornography – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

LOS ANGELES – A former West Covina planning commissioner pleaded guilty in a federal indictment Monday to distribution, receipt and possession of child sexual abuse material, admitting to possession of hundreds of images and videos containing sexually explicit material involving children, including infants and toddlers.

Herbert Redholtz, 74, of West Covina, pleaded guilty in downtown Los Angeles to five counts of distribution of child pornography, two counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Redholtz is free on $20,000 bail, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to his plea agreement, from at least April 2014 through November 2014, Redholtz knowingly distributed, received and possessed child pornography through his personal email account. Specifically, he possessed hundreds of illegal videos and images through his email account, which he accessed from his personal computer at home.

Redholtz’s email account contained approximately 448 images and 109 videos of sexually explicit content involving children, as well as 402 images and 25 videos of sexual material involving children. That account also contained approximately 1,109 emails with evidence of similar images sent to or from Redholtz’s email address, federal prosecutors said.

Redholtz admitted in his plea agreement filed in federal court in Los Angeles that he knew that minors were involved in the production of such images, including victims under the age of 12, including infants and toddlers who were abused for sexual acts.

U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi has scheduled a sentencing hearing for October 7. At that hearing, Redholtz faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in a federal prison for each count of distribution and receipt of child pornography and the statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in a federal prison for each count, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Redholtz was charged with possession of child sexual abuse material in Los Angeles Superior Court following his arrest in March 2021. That charge was dropped, allowing the federal case against Redholtz to proceed.

Redholtz previously served on the West Covina Planning Commission and was then appointed to the Community and Senior Services Commission, where he served until resigning following his arrest in 2021, officials said at the time.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune contributed to this story.