Convicted Valley Child Molester Sentenced to 24 Years for Child Porn Ring

BANNING, CA - A former Palm Springs schools aide was sentenced Wednesday to 24 years in prison for committing lewd acts with children and operating a child pornography ring targeting young boys in Desert Hot Springs.

John David Yoder, 45, of Desert Hot Springs, was convicted in February of four counts of lewd acts on a child under 14, two counts each of human trafficking of a child and procuring a child for sex, as well as one count each of conspiracy to commit child pornography and harboring a fugitive.

District Attorney's Office spokesman John Hall said prosecutors had sought the maximum possible term of 28 years.

"We felt there were a lot of aggravating circumstances," Hall said, adding, "we were pleased that he got a lengthy state prison sentence."

According to trial testimony, Yoder made teenage boys available for himself and three other men at his Desert Hot Springs home and other locations in the city.

He and co-defendants Erick Alan Monsivais of Los Angeles, William Clyde Thompson of Las Vegas and Noland Anthony Harper of Richmond, Virginia, were named last year in a 59-count indictment.

Monsivais, who is facing 45 years behind bars under a plea agreement, pleaded guilty to multiple sex-related felonies and testified for the prosecution during Yoder's trial. He's also slated to be testify at Harper's and Thompson's trials and will not be sentenced until all the cases are resolved.

Prosecutors said the men illegally photographed young boys over the course of two years. Deputy District Attorney Will Robinson told jurors in February that Yoder leased an apartment that Thompson and two of his friends used to molest boys they met at a local skate park. That same apartment became the site of pornographic photo shoots involving local boys, Robinson said.

Yoder's name also appears on the registration of the car Thompson drove and on the Internet service account Thompson allegedly used to sell and distribute photos of scantily clad and naked Desert Hot Springs boys.

"They're all friends, and they're wreaking havoc on this community," Robinson said. "They only care about their own selfish desires."

Defense attorney John Patrick Dolan argued that his client was not involved with his co-defendants' crimes and would never have put his life, family and career at risk to commit the crimes.

"He's a different person than those people," Dolan said.

Robinson identified Yoder as the ringleader, asserting that "Mr. Yoder's home was a lion's den."

Yoder, who previously worked as a Special Education Aide at Desert Hot Springs' Center for Learning and Development, was also named in a lawsuit filed by a former student, who alleges that Yoder molested him at the school and at two Desert Hot Springs parks.

The suit filed last month also targets the school's principal, the Palm Springs Unified School District, stating that the school knew of Yoder's abuses and intentionally destroyed records related to the crimes.

The city of Desert Hot Springs is also named in the suit, and is accused of neglecting to properly protect potential child abuse victims at its park facilities.

– By City News Service.