East Palo Alto man pleads no contest to asking minors for naked selfies

An East Palo Alto man pleaded no contest on Monday to using a minor for commercial sex acts after he was discovered to be communicating with minors to obtain and distribute naked selfies, prosecutors said today.

Deepak Charan, 25, entered the plea in the courtroom of San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Lee in Redwood City on the condition that he spends no more than eight years in prison.

He was arrested earlier this year after an investigation into child pornography distribution coming from East Palo Alto.

Authorities in Florida alerted East Palo Alto police in August 2015 that someone there was distributing child pornography and provided the IP address of the suspect.

Police tracked it to Charan and obtained a search warrant that was served in February 2016. Investigators seized his cellphone and laptop, discovering child pornography and messages with minors asking for naked selfies, prosecutors said.

Charan was arrested and charged with six counts but reached a deal to plead no contest to the single count on Monday.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 22.

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