A former San Diego State University police sergeant and father of three has pleaded guilty to possessing more than 600 files of child pornography, including some videos depicting adults having sex with girls as young as 6 to 8 years old, authorities said.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Homeland Security Investigations discovered the digital concealment during a March 2025 raid on the Riverside County home of Paul Aurelio McClain.
According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, titles of pornographic video files found on McClain’s digital devices included phrases such as “pedo lolita preteen,” “14yo Russian prostitute” and “molestation rape” and more graphic sexual terms. The videos, some of which are over an hour long, show minors engaging in oral, digital, vaginal and anal sex, and include at least one victim who appears to be intellectually disabled.
McClain, 46, was arrested after the raid and initially pleaded not guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. On Wednesday, he changed his plea to guilty and admitted downloading child sexual abuse material, which depicted actual teenagers and underage children engaging in explicit sexual conduct.
Prosecutors said he faces up to 20 years in federal prison and will be sentenced on June 24. After his release, he will be required to register as a sex offender.
According to the affidavit, McClain came on Homeland Security’s radar in 2024 as part of an ongoing investigation into users using peer-to-peer networks to download and distribute child sexual abuse material. Peer-to-peer network is a system where computers connect directly to share data without a central server, which enables users to exchange illegal content in a decentralized manner that is difficult to monitor.
According to the affidavit, in July 2024, an undercover agent was able to connect directly to a remote host computer and download multiple files containing child pornography.
Agents determined that the host computer contained software with the username “astro99999” and an IP address associated with McClain’s home address in Menifee. In February 2025, agents once again identified remote host computers sharing child pornography files with the same username and IP address.
Investigators then executed a search warrant at McClain’s home on March 13, 2025, seized multiple digital devices, and arrested him.
According to the affidavit, in addition to hundreds of files of child sexual abuse material, they found a hidden camera recording inside the home’s bathroom, which captured an adult woman taking a shower and then walking out naked.
Investigators interviewed McClain’s wife, who said he was employed as a police officer and had a degree in computer programming and that they lived together at the home with their three children, ages 9, 13 and 16, according to the affidavit. They found a police vehicle in his garage and a police jacket in his bedroom, as well as other clothing bearing law enforcement insignia.
According to the affidavit, on the day of the raid, McClain’s supervisor at the San Diego State University Police Department confirmed that he was employed as a sergeant in the department and was not assigned to investigate crimes related to child abuse.
then sdsu issued a statement Admitting that an officer had been arrested off campus and charged with possession of child pornography. The university said that, upon learning of the allegations, it removed the officer from duty, initiated the termination process and launched its own investigation.
McClain has been in federal custody since his arrest in March 2025.
