Day care worker arrested in child porn investigation

La Petite Academy near Eckhert and Babcock roads. La Petite Academy near Eckhert and Babcock roads. Photo: Google Screen Shots Photo: Google Screen Shots Image 1 of / 72 Caption Close Day care worker arrested in child porn investigation 1 / 72 Back to Gallery

A San Antonio day care employee has been charged with distributing child pornography, some of which he admitted creating at his workplace.

Nicholas Andreas Gonzales Malven, 29, who worked at La Petite Academy on Spring Time Drive, was arrested Friday after an investigation and admitting sending inappropriate images of kids at the day care to others, according to an FBI affidavit.

The affidavit alleges he took pictures or video of himself molesting children at the day care and sent them via social networking sites.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for La Petite Academy said Gonzales is no longer with the company and that it is cooperating with the FBI.

“We have strict policies and procedures to ensure we meet or exceed regulatory guidelines,” the statement said. “We do not tolerate any deviation from our standards of care. … We take our responsibility as caregivers very seriously.”

A suspect in a related child-porn investigation told agents that Gonzales sent him images of a boy being molested. That suspect also told the FBI that he met with Gonzales for sex and they watched child porn together, the affidavit said.

The affidavit said Gonzales also sent similar images of the same boy to an undercover agent. When agents arrived at Gonzales’ Northwest Side apartment, he admitted receiving, sending and accessing child porn for five years, the affidavit said, and that he made the images in question last month at the day care.

Gonzales is being held pending a bail hearing Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad.