Former School Employee Paid Teens To Make Porn, Pleads Guilty In Bay Area: US Attorney

SAN JOSE, CA — A former operations manager at Valley Christian High School pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges after prosecutors said he paid multiple teenage boys at two South Bay high schools to create child sexual abuse material.

Todd Baldwin, 46, of Bremerton, Washington, pleaded guilty to two counts of online child enticement and two counts of receipt of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.

Baldwin admitted that from October 2021 through August 2023, he used Snapchat, Venmo, Gmail and other internet-enabled applications to persuade several minor boys to create sexually explicit images and videos.

According to his plea agreement, Baldwin paid four boys, ages 16 and 17, thousands of dollars through Venmo and Cash App. He told some of them he planned to resell the material to buyers online, prosecutors said.

Baldwin also admitted soliciting and collecting used underwear and clothing worn by boys for resale.

At the time, Baldwin was an operations manager at Valley Christian High School in San Jose. Prosecutors said his victims included students at both Valley Christian and Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, and that he became acquainted with at least one victim through his position at Valley Christian.

Police later searched Baldwin’s home and seized electronic devices containing child pornography, prosecutors said. Baldwin also admitted to online enticement involving two additional uncharged victims, officials said.

Baldwin remains free on bond under conditions including electronic monitoring and home detention.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 26, 2027, before U.S. District Judge Beth L. Freeman.

He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, along with a potential $250,000 fine and restitution to victims.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the San Jose Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Squad.