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PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A former Arizona firefighter learned his punishment last week for creating child pornography involving a teen girl.
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Agustin Julian “AJ” Sauceda, who worked as a battalion chief with the Eloy Fire District, was sentenced on May 5 to 24 years and 5 months in prison. He will then be on probation for the rest of his life. The sentencing was part of a plea deal.
“As a firefighter, this individual was entrusted with protecting and serving his community. Instead, he betrayed that trust in the most egregious way possible,” said Jason T. Stevens, special agent in charge for HSI Arizona. “(Last week’s) sentencing sends a clear message: those who abuse positions of public trust to harm children will be held fully accountable.”
Sauceda downloaded and shared explicit child sexual abuse material between June and September 2024.
Investigators searched his Casa Grande home Oct. 30, 2024, and found 5,063 photos of a naked 14-year-old girl after seizing nearly two dozen electronic devices. The pictures were taken between August 2022 and July 2024.
He also had roughly 14,089 files featuring the sexual exploitation of children before puberty, including a toddler, which he received from the internet.
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“No one should exploit and sexually victimize children, least of all a public servant entrusted with serving his community,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine.
In late November 2024, he was indicted on nine counts of producing and attempting to produce child pornography, five counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.
Sauceda later pleaded guilty to producing child pornography.
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