LOS ANGELES – A federal grand jury today named an Aliso Viejo man in an indictment that accuses him of traveling to China to engage in illegal sexual activity with a 16-year-old and taking sexually explicit photographs of the victim.

Ezequiel Christopher Barragan, 51 – who previously was a Spanish teacher at Dana Hills High School, as well as a youth baseball coach – was charged today in a three-count indictment that accuses him of producing child pornography, traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, and engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign place.

According to the indictment, Barragan traveled to China in August 2009, where he allegedly coerced a boy to engage in sexual conduct “for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct.”

The charge of producing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years. The charges of international travel and engaging in illicit sexual activity each carry a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

Barragan, who is currently serving a state prison sentence in an unrelated case, will be arraigned on the indictment in the coming weeks. The case against Barragan was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, which received substantial assistance from the Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Center and the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force.

This case was indicted by Assistant United States Attorney Vanessa Baehr-Jones of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.

Component(s): USAO – California, Central

Contact: Thom Mrozek Spokesperson/Public Affairs Officer United States Attorney's Office Central District of California (Los Angeles) 213-894-6947

Press Release Number: 18-017 Updated February 2, 2018

Central District of California DOJ /18-017 / February 2, 2018