BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – A man was arrested for the second time in as many weeks after authorities found child sexual abuse material and images of bestiality on his cell phone, according to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
Aurelio Benjamin Cerella, 47, was taken into custody Friday by detectives from BCSO’s Human Exploitation Unit, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said.
BCSO said Cerella faces the following three charges:
Salazar said Cerella was first arrested on March 25 after an undercover operation in which a detective posed as a 16-year-old girl and began communicating with them online.
BCSO said Cerella allegedly was sending inappropriate photos to someone he believed was the teen and made sexual propositions to the same person.
Cerella was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on one count of online solicitation of a minor. Salazar said he bonded out two days later.
During the investigation, Salazar said detectives seized Cerella’s cell phone and obtained a warrant to search it.
Over the following weeks, the sheriff said investigators found child sexual abuse images and images of bestiality on the device.
BCSO said they do not believe Cerella produced the images himself but rather downloaded them.
The sheriff said he wants to remind the community to be aware of what children are doing online.
“We use (this) as an opportunity to remind the community that you need to really be careful in who your kids are talking to online and what they’re doing,” Salazar said. “In many instances, they’re approaching these kids on regular social media or on gaming platforms.”
As of Saturday afternoon, Cerella remains in the Bexar County jail, court records show.
