Man Charged With Child Pornography Possession

Criminal charges have been filed against a Tarzana man for possession of child pornography with the intent to distribute, exhibit or exchange the material, according to the Los Angeles city attorney.

The charges against David B. Altieri, filed Friday, stem from an undercover investigation utilizing the Internet that began in Houston County, Ga., and was traced back to the San Fernando Valley, according to Mike Qualls, a spokesman for the city attorney.

As part of an undercover sting operation on the Internet, an officer with the Houston County Sheriff’s Department posted an advertisement last summer with an online news group. The ad indicated he had child pornography videos that he wanted to trade or sell, Qualls said. On Aug. 20, the undercover deputy received an electronic message responding to the ad allegedly from Altieri, Qualls said.

Altieri, 34, also sent the deputy a child pornography video by mail, according to Qualls.

The Sheriff’s Department referred the case to U.S. postal inspectors who, in turn, handed it over to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Sexually Exploited Child Unit.

Last October, LAPD detectives served a search warrant of Altieri’s Tarzana condominium and seized Web TV Internet equipment that contained stored mail with scanned photographs of child pornography, according to Deputy City Atty. Brian Williams, who is handling the case.

Altieri was charged with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography with the intent of distributing, exhibiting or exchanging the material.

Altieri was not in custody by Tuesday afternoon, Williams said, although police had been in contact with him. A date of his arraignment has not been set.