SAN DIEGO — A former San Diego-area preschool teacher who pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography was sentenced Monday to seven years in federal prison.
Paul Torres Jimenez De La Cuesta, formerly of Imperial Beach, was arrested in June of 2020 following an investigation that revealed he was "trading child sex-abuse materials via online chat groups," according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations.
He was arrested at his workplace in Poway and pleaded guilty last year to one count of distribution of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
According to his plea agreement, the offense involved more than 600 images of child pornography.
An ICE news release issued last year regarding his arrest and guilty plea stated Torres had been employed either full-time or as a substitute teacher at the following San Diego schools:
- St. David's Episcopal Church & Preschool, 5050 Milton St.;
- Seaside Preschool Beachside Campus, 1201 Turquoise St.;
- Little Sprouts Preschool, 403 Camino Del Rio S.;
- NHA University of Early Learning Bethel Campus Day Care Center, 3085 K St.;
- NHA Johnson Early Learning Academy Day Care Center, 5760 Luber St.;
- NHA Karen D. Love Head Start Day Care Center, 2060 Drescher St.;
- NHA Stem Institute for Early Learning Day Care Center, 808 W Cedar St.;
- YMCA of San Diego County, 3708 Ruffin Road; and
- San Diego Cooperative Preschool, 4190 Front St.
Torres also has worked at Concordia Church & School on Discovery Falls Drive in Chula Vista, Soroptimist International of the Americas in Tijuana, and My Room to Grow Preschool in Poway.
