A 25-year veteran of the Los Angeles Unified School District was sentenced today to more than five years in federal prison for his conviction on federal charges of distributing child pornography via the Internet.
Albert Pinedo, 60, of Alhambra, was sentenced to 64 months in prison by United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson.
In September, Pinedo pleaded guilty the felony charge, admitting that he sent via e-mail approximately 28 sexually explicit images of children to an undercover United States Postal Inspector between July 11 and August 2, 2002.
Pinedo was employed by the LAUSD as a teacher and administrator from September 1975 until November 2002, serving as assistant principal at Samuel Gompers Middle School in South-Central Los Angeles from April 2001 until November 2002. Pinedo resigned from his position shortly after FBI agents executed a search warrant at his residence, during which they seized a computer containing more than 100 additional images of child pornography.
Pinedo has admitted having sexual contact with a series of minors, including 11-year-old and 13-year-old boys. As part of his plea agreement, Pinedo agreed to accept a sentence enhancement for engaging in a pattern of activity involving the sexual abuse of minors.
Pinedo has been in custody since pleading guilty on September 16.
This case was investigated by the Southern California Regional Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Team, a multi-agency child exploitation task force that includes agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the California Department of Justice, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the California Department of Corrections-State Parole.
