A former San Diego State University police officer and father of three admitted to possessing more than 600 files of child pornography, including videos showing adults having sex with girls believed to be as young as 6 to 8 years old, authorities said.
Homeland Security Investigations discovered the digital stash during a March 2025 raid on the Riverside County home of Paul Aurelio McClain, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Titles of pornographic video files found on McClain’s digital device included phrases such as “Prepubescent Pedophile Lolita,” “14-Year-Old Russian Prostitute” and “Indecent Rape,” as well as more sexually explicit terms, according to an affidavit filed with the complaint. The videos, some of which were more than an hour long, showed minors engaging in oral, finger, vaginal and anal sex, and at least one of the victims appeared to have an intellectual disability.
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 and admitted downloading child sex abuse material that depicted actual teenagers and pre-teens engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
Prosecutors said he faces up to 20 years in federal prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24. Once released, he will be required to register as a sex offender.
McClain discovered DHS radar in 2024 during an investigation into users who were using peer-to-peer networks to download and distribute child sexual abuse material, the affidavit said. A peer-to-peer network is a system in which computers are connected directly to share data without the need for a central server. This can allow users to exchange illegal material in a decentralized manner that is more difficult to monitor.
In July 2024, an undercover agent was able to connect directly to a remote host and download multiple files containing child pornography, the affidavit states.
Agents determined that the host had software installed with the username “astro99999” whose IP address was associated with McClain’s home address in Menifee. In February 2025, the agent again identified a remote host with the same username and IP address sharing child pornography files.
Investigators subsequently executed a search warrant at McClain’s home on March 13, 2025, seizing multiple digital devices and arresting him.
In addition to hundreds of files of child sexual abuse material, they also discovered a recording from a hidden camera in the home’s bathroom that showed an adult woman taking a shower and then exiting the shower naked, the affidavit said.
Investigators interviewed McClain’s wife, who said McClain was a police officer with a degree in computer programming and that they lived at home with their three children, ages 9, 13 and 16, according to the affidavit. They found a police car in his garage and a police jacket in his bedroom, among other clothing with law enforcement insignia.
On the day of the raid, McClain’s supervisor at the San Diego State University Police Department confirmed that he worked as a police officer with the department and was not assigned to investigate crimes related to child exploitation, according to the affidavit.
SDSU later released a statement acknowledging that an officer was arrested off campus and charged with possession of child pornography. The university said that after learning of the allegations, it removed the officer, initiated dismissal proceedings and launched its own investigation.
McClain has been in federal custody since his arrest in March 2025.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
