Bellflower, a community south of Los Angeles and east of Compton, was the stage for an investigation into child exploitation that eventually yielded a prodigious predator. Investigators believed that child pornography had been uploaded onto a computer at a home in the Bellflower community. This belief came from a tip from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children.
Police obtained a warrant and searched the Bellflower residence, which in turn led them to a suspect in Bassett, about 10 miles north on 605. They served another warrant for a residence in Bassett that resulted in a cache of evidence of possession, and possibly production, of child pornography. It also appeared as if the occupant had left in a hurry.
This further evidence also uncovered the identification of two minor females, aged 10 – 13, from Los Angeles county who had been abused by the suspect – 43-year-old Manuel Montes. He was arrested at a residence in Norwalk. At that address they also found a “trophy room” which included clothes, toys and children’s books. He was charged with four counts of lewd acts upon a child, distributing child pornography and using a minor for sex acts. His bail was set at $460,000.
46-year-old Lorenzo Montes, the suspect’s brother, was also arrested and charged with being an accessory after the fact
Read More:
Press Telegram: Brothers plead not guilty in Norwalk porn case
LATimes: Man arrested in child pornography case had trophy room
