Political consultant pleads guilty to child pornography charges

San Francisco political consultant Enrique Pearce, arrested on child pornography charges on May 7, 2015. San Francisco political consultant Enrique Pearce, arrested on child pornography charges on May 7, 2015. Photo: San Francisco Police Department Photo: San Francisco Police Department Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Political consultant pleads guilty to child pornography charges 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

A San Francisco political consultant and attorney who was arrested last year and charged with possessing child pornography pleaded guilty this morning in San Francisco Superior Court, prosecutors said.

Enrique Pearce pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child pornography, one count of buying or receiving stolen property, and one count of possession or control of child pornography with allegations of possessing more than 600 images of someone under 18 and possessing matter that portrayed sexual sadism or sexual masochism involving someone under 18, according to court documents.

As a result of the guilty plea, a judge is expected to sentence Pearce to six months in county jail, which may be served on home detention. Additionally, Pearce may also be sentenced to 5 months probation and may have to register as a sex offender for life, prosecutors said.

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Pearce remained out of custody this morning. He is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 25, which is when a judge is expected to sentence him, according to prosecutors.

Pearce had originally been charged with six felonies related to child pornography and prosecutors had originally asked that Pearce served his sentence in state prison.

Pearce initially pleaded not guilty to the original charges back in May 2015, following his arrest.

He was arrested on May 7, 2015 after police served a search warrant at his Tenderloin apartment, located near McAllister and Leavenworth streets, police said.

Police first began investigating Pearce in February 2015, after a man who had chatted with Pearce online said that Pearce had sent him images of child pornography.

The man then forwarded messages from Pearce to police. Investigators were able to link a Yahoo messenger account that sent the images to Pearce's IP address, which was linked to his Tenderloin address, prosecutors said in May.

During the investigation, detectives found 4,902 images and videos of child pornography on two of Pearce's silver Apple laptops, including graphic images showing sexual abuse of infants as young as six months old, according to prosecutors.

Additionally, 115 images were also recovered from Pearce's cellphone, which showed 11 clothed boys between 8 and 12 years old, who appeared to not know they were being photographed.

During the search warrant operation, officers also recovered a stolen parking meter at Pearce's home.

The recovered parking meter, which was valued to be worth about $950, resulted in the buying or receiving stolen property charge, according to court documents.

Pearce worked as a consultant at Left Coast Communications. He is credited with having worked on political campaigns for U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, as well as San Francisco supervisors Jane Kim and Norman Yee, among others.

Pearce also established Pearce Law Offices.

A defense attorney for Pearce was not immediately available for comment.