2 Bay Area men sentenced 15, 18 years in prison for child pornography charges

SAN FRANCISCO - Two Bay Area residents, one being a driving school instructor who used his position to find victims, were sentenced to 15 years and 18 years respectively for several charges relating to child pornography, according to federal prosecutors. 

Oakland resident Kenneth Orlando Sparks was sentenced to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release following his prison term after he was convicted of producing child pornography and engaging in sex trafficking of a minor. 

According to authorities, the 37-year-old made several videos of him having sex with a minor in July 2019 and would take the minor to Oakland and San Francisco to perform sex work on "the Blade," the cities' sex strips, despite knowing they were underage.

On the other side of the Bay, Johnnatan Zelaya Izaguirre (Zelaya) was sentenced to 18 years in prison and 15 years of supervised release after his prison term after he pleaded guilty to coercing and enticing teenage girls to produce child pornography.

Zelaya was an instructor at a Redwood City driving school and used both social media and his job to recruit the girls. According to reports, Zelaya recruited seven of his victims through Instagram and Snapchat and by asking students.

In recruiting his victims, Zelaya would tell the girls he would "manage" the sale of the sexual content over social media. 

He would tell the girls what the "customers" wanted, how much they would pay, and how much the girls should expect in payment depending on the videos and whether they were nude or not. 

When he was arrested, Zelaya had at least 41 videos and 10 photos of the victims, and other photos of unidentified girls in his possession.

The girls were between the ages of 14-17.

Zelaya also admitted to sleeping with two victims while they were underaged and on filmed the act on one occasion. That video was sent to a "client," who knew the girl was a minor.

 Zelaya committed the acts between November 2013 and Jan. 4, 2022, federal prosecutors said.