San Ramon Man Sentenced to 57 Months for Possession of Child Pornography

Complaints to Police About Man Peeking Into Girls' Windows Leads to Cache of More Than 13,000 Child Pornography Images

OAKLAND, CA—Dave Prem Chhabria was sentenced yesterday to 57 months in prison for possession of child pornography, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.

Pursuant to a plea agreement with the government, Chhabria, 30, pleaded guilty on Nov. 4, 2010, to possession of child pornography in violation of Title 18, United States Code, section 2252(a)(4)(B). According to the plea agreement, Chhabria admitted to possessing computer equipment and media that was found to contain more than 13,000 images of child pornography, and more than 200 child pornography videos.

Chhabria first came to the attention of the San Ramon police when members of the public complained that he had been seen peering into the bedroom windows of young girls, and on one occasion had aimed a flashlight into a 13-year-old girl’s bedroom while she was undressing for bed. Chhabria later admitted to police that he had used Google Earth software to plot escape routes if he was ever caught peering into young girls’ bedrooms, and would time his visits based on when he thought girls would be trying on new clothes for school.

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton following a guilty plea to a one count information charging possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). Judge Hamilton also sentenced the defendant to a five-year period of supervised release. The defendant is currently in custody.

Owen Martikan is the Assistant United States Attorney who prosecuted the case with the assistance of Elise Etter. The prosecution is the result of a one-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in conjunction with the San Ramon Police Department.

Further Information:

Case #: CR10-0803 PJH

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Judges' calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court's website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Jack Gillund at (415) 436-6599 or by e-mail at Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov.