Merced County Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Child Pornography Charges
By Anthony W. Haddad
Published on March 20, 2026.
A man from Merced County, Joel Damian Ortega, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for receiving and distributing child sexual abuse material. Ortegan used a Samsung Galaxy smartphone between Jan. 26, 2024 and July 7, 2024 to receive and distribute at least one visual depiction of a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the case.
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