San Francisco Man Sentenced To Nine Years In Federal Prison For Possession Of Child Sexual Abuse Materials

SAN FRANCISCO – Cristian Eduardo Mattus Piccardo, 52, of San Francisco, was sentenced today to 108 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution for possession of child pornography.  U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria handed down the sentence.

Mattus pleaded guilty on July 11, 2024, to one count of possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(4)(B) and (b)(2).  He was originally indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2023 and by a superseding indictment in December 2023.  According to the plea agreement, Mattus knowingly possessed over 4,000 videos and over 2,000 images of child sexual abuse materials that he downloaded from the Internet using peer-to-peer file sharing software.  Many of the videos and images depicted infants and toddlers as young as two, three, four, and five years old.  Mattus admitted that he actively searched for and downloaded files depicting infants and toddlers.  He also uploaded over 2,000 files of child sexual abuse materials to the Internet for other users to access and download.  Mattus further admitted that the minor daughter of a family friend was among the victims to whom he owed restitution.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Chhabria sentenced the defendant to a 10-year period of supervised release.  The defendant will be required to register as a sex offender.  Mattus will begin serving his sentence on May 12, 2025.

Acting United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Tatum King made the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney George Hageman prosecuted the case with the assistance of Helen Yee.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by HSI.