40-Year-Old Man Arrested On Child Pornography Charges: Police

REDWOOD CITY, CA - A 40-year-old man was arrested Thursday after a search of his house by San Mateo County Sheriff's Department officers turned up more than 200,000 images of child pornography on his computer and other electronic devices and found evidence he had been in contact with several minors for the purpose of personal gratification.

David R. Hackworth was arrested at his home and was charged with various sex crimes after deputies served him with a search warrant Thursday morning in the 3500 block of Jefferson Ave. According to a news release, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department detective bureau received a tip from law enforcement officials with the Arapahoe County (Colorado) Sheriff’s Office indicating that Hackworth had been in contact with a 10-year-old victim there.

Hackworth was arrested on suspicion of persuading a minor to perform sexual acts, distributing sexual content by using a minor depicting sexual acts, communicating with a minor for the purpose of sexual gratification, distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Because of the severity of the crimes and multiple victims involved, detectives are working with the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The matter remains under investigation and anyone who has or knows of any children who may have communicated or come into contact with Hackworth to please call Detective Chiu at 650-363-4057 dchiu@smcgov.org or Detective Paterson at 650-363-4881kpaterson@smcgov.org.