After-school worker forced 7-year-old girl to take explicit photos in CA, feds say

A 44-year-old man has been accused of creating sexually explicit photos of a 7-year-old girl during an after-school recreation program in California, federal officials said.

Stephen Michael Martinez, of Sawtelle, was working as a caretaker of kids at Culver City Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department as an after-school employee between 2020 and 2025, according to an Aug. 21 news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

On July 14, police learned that while Martinez was working at the after-school program he forced a 7-year-old girl in his care to take sexually explicit photos, prosecutors said. He was arrested two days later.

Martinez was charged with two counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, officials said.

Martinez’s attorney information was not immediately available as of Aug. 22.

McClatchy News reached out to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the indictment and was awaiting a response.

If convicted on all counts, Martinez faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, prosecutors said.

This story was originally published August 22, 2025 at 12:43 PM with the headline "After-school worker forced 7-year-old girl to take explicit photos in CA, feds say."