Castroville man sentenced to six years for committing sex acts upon a minor

CASTROVILLE, Calif. (KION-TV)- UPDATE ON SEPT. 28, 2023 AT 9:43 AM- Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni said that 19-year-old Olidio Antonio Cruz Pineda was sentenced to six years in state prison for two counts of committing lewd or lascivious acts on a minor under the age of 14.

According to Pacioni, Cruz Pineda will have to register as a sexual offender for the rest of his life.

In Dec. 2022, The Monterey County Sheriff's Office was made aware that a Snapchat user within Monterey County had accessed content through Snapchat that likely contained child pornography. A detective with the Monterey County Sheriff's Office identified the user as Cruz Pineda.

Cruz Pineda was arrested on Jan. 27, 2023, after a court-ordered search warrant was issued for his residence on the 13000 block of Cielo Azul.

According to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office, the images appeared to be homemade. This led detectives to the school of a juvenile female who had regular contact with Cruz Pineda.

Before detectives disclosed what they were investigating the victim she broke down and disclosed the abuse she had suffered at the hands of Cruz-Pineda, per Pacioni.

Castroville alleged child molester may have victims in Seaside, Sand City and Monterey

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office said a 19-year-old has been arrested for alleged possession of child pornography and lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14.

Olidio Antonio Cruz Pineda, 19, was arrested on Jan. 27 2023 after a court-ordered search warrant was issued for his residence on the 13000 block of Cielo Azul. This is after a months-long investigation showed probable cause to search the property.

Something that Olidio's neighbor, who did not want to disclose her name, remembers very vividly. 

"I was in shock because I didn't know what was going on," said the suspect's neighbor. "I was thinking why are there so many cop cars around here and I had no clue. They were here for a while and they left with someone in handcuffs."

Deputies said on August 2022 The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that an individual in California uploaded images containing Child Sexual Abuse Material to Snapchat, Inc. That internet connection was tracked down to Cruz-Pineda's home.

Cruz-Pineda was identified as the owner of the device used to upload child sex abuse material.

Through the investigation, deputies say that it was revealed that he also sexually assaulted a child under 14. Deputies added through interviews they have reason to believe there are other victims in this case.

Victims are believed to have resided in Sand City, Seaside, and Monterey between 2017 – 2020.

"I feel that the person who has done this has to pay for the repercussions that he has caused to all these young children's innocent children," said the suspect's neighbor. "It's not their fault. He needs help, mentally, and needs to be held accountable." 

Neighbors who I spoke to off-camera said, they would only see Olidio in the mornings when he would move the cars where he lived. They also said that multiple people live in the house where he got arrested, children and adults.

Neighbors are worried that this type of incident happened in their neighborhood. And not just for them, but for the children who live there as well. 

"Yeah, for the neighborhood because there are a lot of children in the neighborhood," said the suspect's neighbor. And the ice cream man comes all the time."

Cruz-Pineda was arrested and booked into Monterey County Jail on child pornography and lewd and lascivious acts with minor charges. Cruz-Pineda’s bail was set at $200,000.

Anyone with knowledge of this case is urged to call Detective Christian Zarate at 831-755-3809, or Detective Sergeant David Vargas at 831-755-3771.​