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FBI charges Santa Cruz County employee with possession of child pornography APTOS – A Tiburon child pornographer – who along with an Aptos afterschool counselor and babysitter faces federal criminal charges on suspicion of recording and sharing recordings of boys naked and having sex – is scheduled to change his not-guilty plea during a hearing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on July 26, according to court records.

Bryan Petersen, 24, of Tiburon pleaded not guilty to all four counts during a hearing May 16 in U.S. District Court. A hearing is slated 10 a.m. July 26 to change his plea.

U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Abraham Simmons said the plea change will not be filed until the hearing. It is unclear, therefore, exactly what the change will entail.

“A change-of-plea hearing means somebody is planning to change their plea from not guilty to something else,” Simmons said. It is up to a judge to accept or reject a plea, he also said.

Petersen and Aptos High School graduate Ryan Spencer, 19, each faces counts of conspiracy to distribute and receive child pornography; distribution of child pornography; receipt of child pornography; and possession of child pornography – all felonies, according to federal grand jury’s indictment issued May 11.

The men, who met online, are accused of creating child pornography depicting children in their care, according to court documents. According to Spencer’s LinkedIn page, he worked with children in multiple capacities, including as a “party coordinator” for a business in Watsonville and an activities coordinator at Mar Vista Elementary School, La Selva Beach Clubhouse and Aptos Village Park, for more than six years before FBI agents arrested him at his Aptos home on a warrant April 27, according to court documents.

Petersen was arrested April 26. FBI agents were serving a search warrant at Petersen’s Tiburon home and he agreed to be interviewed, according to court documents. Petersen also admitted he had images and videos of child pornography that he received and distributed, according to court documents. Agents seized a laptop from Petersen’s home that had a video, which he allegedly received by email from a child, of boys engaged in sexual self-gratification.

During the search, Petersen told authorities he received child pornography from Spencer, according to court documents. Petersen said he delivered a hard drive to Spencer to be filled with more than 10,000 child-pornography files. Petersen traveled to Aptos to retrieve the hard drive. The men also communicated on the messaging app Kik. Those messages allegedly reveal the men were producing child pornography of children they were baby-sitting, according to court documents.

The FBI continues to investigate and has created an email – bayareatips@ic.fbi.gov – for parents and guardians who have reason to believe their children could be victims in the case.

Parents of children who interacted with Spencer said the accused child pornographer was a friendly, mild-mannered teen.

Spencer does not have a change-of-plea scheduled. He pleaded not guilty to all counts on May 16. Spencer next will appear in court for a status hearing 1:30 p.m. Aug. 30 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Both men remain in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.