80-Year-Old Santa Clara Valley Man Arrested For Child Porn

An elderly man who allegedly brought a memory card containing photographs of child pornography to a Campbell electronics store Tuesday was arrested, a police spokesman said.

Frank Prendergast, 80, was arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography and was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail, but was released Wednesday morning on his own recognizance, police Capt. Gary Berg said.

Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, officers responded to a report of a person possibly possessing child pornography at the San Jose Camera & Video store at 1600 S. Winchester Blvd., Berg said. Store employees told officers they found what they suspected to be child pornography on a secure digital memory card brought in by a customer who asked for help in retrieving the images, according to Berg.

The 80-year-old man confessed he owned the images and had more at his San Jose home, Berg said.

Detectives searched the residence, where they took hundreds of VHS tapes and other media they are reviewing, according to Berg.

Police are looking into how Prendergast ended up owning the images, Berg said.

The investigation so far has not shown that Prendergast produced child porn, according to Berg.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Campbell police at (408) 947-7867.

--Bay City News; Booking photo of Frank Pendergast