Two Monterey County men arrested on child pornography-related charges

SOLEDAD, Calif. (KION) Two men have been arrested on charges related to child pornography after a tip from the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, according to Soledad police.

Early Monday morning, Soledad police said they worked with Homeland Security Investigations, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Monterey County Sheriff's Office to serve search warrants related to the tip in Soledad and the unincorporated area of Salinas.

During the searches, police found that the suspects, Juan Soto and Miguel Soto, were cousins and both were arrested. Police believe the two were sending child porn to each other and getting it on social media. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has software that detects child porn online, and it picked up what they were sending to each other, so the agency contacted the Silicon Valley task force. One of the men was an agricultural worker and the other worked as a cook.

Juan Soto was arrested and charged with distributing pornography, and Miguel Soto was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography after the search. Both were booked into the Monterey County Jail.