Man sentenced to 17 years on porn, sex charges

A Pasadena Superior Court judge sentenced a 33-year-old Monrovia man to 17 years in state prison today. The sentencing followed a recent federal grand jury indictment.

Judge Janice Clair Croft ordered Gregory Scott Serrano to serve 17 years in a California State Prison on 20 counts of child molestation, Internet pornography and attempted destruction of evidence.

Serrano was earlier indicted in a federal court on 23 sex and Internet pornography charges, which stemmed from his posing as a photographer and meeting teenaged girls through MySpace and other social networking Web sites. He was tried for molesting and taking nude photos of his victims, who were anywhere between 13 and 17 years old.

Other charges included attempted destruction of evidence.

Prior to today’s sentencing, Serrano was indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles in May. He subsequently was schedule to appear in a Pasadena courthouse last month, where he originally entered a plea of not guilty.

According to court documents, Serrano represented himself as a 19-year-old on various social networking sites. Upon reading the profiles of various teenager girls on the Web site, such as MySpace.com an netlog.com, Serrano would reach out to her via email and, later, cellular phone conversations. Eventually, Serrano convinced each girl to meet him in person, according to the facts of the case.

The incidents apparently date as far back as June 2006.

An investigation was initiated by Monrovia Police Dept. in March 2009 after a 15-year-old victim alleged to her parents that Serrano molested her.

After being arrested and placed in custody, Serrano was also accused of reaching out to family members, requesting them to destroy certain evidence at his residence, including potential child pornography found on his hard drive, a cellular phone and a compact disc.

He was residing at Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic during the criminal proceedings.

Preliminary Hearing for accused rapists

In an unrelated matter, the preliminary hearing for Stephen Kyle Mack was also held today. Mack, 41, was accused of raping three 14-year-old females in the Pasadena area.

Another person, 42-year-old Brian Hudson, is also on trial for the same allegations. Both men reportedly approached the alleged victims at the Paseo Colorado shopping center in February.

The preliminary hearing for both men was scheduled for yesterday, but was delayed.

In February, Mack and Hudson allegedly approached three teenaged females at the Paseo Colorado shopping center, who were there after ditching school earlier that day. Both men reportedly invited the teenagers to join them at a vacant house located at 255 E. Idaho St., where the alleged crime occurred.

According to officers who investigated the matter, the suspects provided the three teenage victims with marijuana and alcohol prior to allegedly sexually assaulting them.