One Of 'Largest Known Collections' Of Child Pornography Linked To IE Man: CHP

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. — The California Highway Patrol announced Tuesday that it arrested a 53-year-old Twentynine Palms man following a months-long investigation into "one of the largest known collections of child sexual abuse material" linked to a single suspect in California.

Jail records show Scott Raymond Cherko was arrested Oct. 23 and booked into the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Morongo Basin Station on suspicion of possessing child pornography.

As of Tuesday, he was out of custody on bail. No court date has been set for him, according to jail records.

The investigation into Cherko began in June 2024, when investigators from the CHP’s Computer Crimes Investigation Unit identified an Internet Protocol (IP) address involved in large-scale downloads of child sexual abuse material.

Over the course of the investigation, CHP investigators obtained more than 300 gigabytes of suspected child sexual abuse material linked to Cherko, according to the CHP.

On Aug. 21, 2024, CHP investigators executed a search warrant at Cherko's residence in Twentynine Palms.

Investigators seized multiple digital devices, and forensic analysis later confirmed extensive collections of child sexual abuse images, according to the CHP.