An Aptos babysitter today pleaded guilty on child pornography charges. In San Francisco federal court, 21-year-old Ryan Michael Spencer admitted to taking pornographic photos of more than a dozen kids while working as a babysitter and camp counselor in the Santa Cruz area.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said one photo showed Spencer molesting a child he was babysitting.
Spencer and co-defendant Bryan Petersen of Tiburon traded child pornography using Kik Messenger.
In the spring of 2016, Spencer filled a hard drive with more than 30,000 images and videos of child pornography and gave it to Peterson.
Spencer and Peterson were indicted by a federal Grand Jury in May 2017.
Spencer has been in custody since his arrest in April of last year. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 20, 2019. He could receive up to 30 years for each count of production of child pornography and 20 years for the other child pornography counts, a fine up to $250,000, plus restitution to the victims.
Peterson, 27, pleaded guilty in 2017 and is awaiting sentencing.
