72-year-old on parole for attempted murder arrested on child pornography charges

Content warning: this story contains alleged details of child sexual abuse.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A 72-year-old Orchard Park man who is on parole for an attempted murder conviction dating back over 40 years was arrested on child pornography charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.

Authorities said that during a home visit in April, they conducted a cell phone search on a phone belonging to the man, identified as Santos Gonzalez. An investigation allegedly found several self-produced videos depicting minor females in public settings, a video inside a residence with two minor females, one of whom has an order of protection against Gonzalez, and eight videos that allegedly show Gonzalez sexually abusing a minor female.

Gonzalez is currently on parole for March 1981 convictions of attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon, burglary and attempted assault. According to state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision parolee lookup, he was released from prison in December 2021.

He is charged with sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography. If convicted, he faces a minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years.

Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here .