Sioux Falls man pleads guilty to child porn charges

A sex offender could spend 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography in a Sioux Falls court Wednesday.

Mario Castaneda Jr., 40, was charged in a five-count indictment in September alleging that he downloaded child pornography on his personal computer.

As a result of his plea, three of child pornography charges were dropped.

Randy Sample, a deputy Minnehaha County States’ Attorney, said Wednesday that Castaneda downloaded two videos showing young girls between the ages of 6 to 8 being raped. It’s not known if more images were found on Castaneda’s computer.

In September, a Rapid City Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force came across an IP address which was keeping and distributing child pornography. A subpoena was issued for the IP address, which traced back to Castaneda’s Sioux Falls home.

Detectives with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force served a warrant at Castaneda’s home in the 4800 block of South Louise Avenue. Two computer were seized from the home.

Castaneda was a registered sex offender at the time of his arrest. He was convicted of sodomy of a child under the age of 12 and indecent acts with a child in 2004 in Kentucky.

A sentencing date has yet to be set.