Eastvale man is charged with exploiting six boys through social media

A Riverside County man was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on charges that he coerced six boys between the ages of 12 and 15 to send him sexually explicit photographs and videos.

Francisco Javier Soledad, 24, of Eastvale is facing a 17-count indictment that alleges he produced, distributed, possessed and advertised child pornography, as well as used social media to induce minors to engage in criminal sexual acts, according to a statement by the U.S. attorney’s office.

Soledad was arrested in March after federal prosecutors filed a complaint that accused him of producing child pornography involving a 13-year-old boy.

According to court documents, Soledad last year adopted different online personas across social media to persuade minors in five states to share sexually explicit content of themselves.

The documents allege that Soledad told one victim that he would publicly post the images online after the victim refused to send additional photos and blocked him on one social media website.

Soledad did publish one nude image of a victim on Twitter, court documents allege.

Law enforcement are still working to identify all the children Soledad allegedly exploited after a search found more than 5,000 photos and videos of suspected child pornography on his electronic devices, officials said.

Soledad is scheduled to be arraigned on April 12 and is out on a $170,000 bond.

jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLanda