Former San Gabriel Valley grade school teacher gets prison time in child porn case

James Queally, Los Angeles Times on Mar 29, 2025

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A Southern California grade school teacher was sentenced to four years in prison Friday on charges that he downloaded hundreds of videos portraying sexual abuse against children, including clips that involved infants, federal prosecutors said.

Steven Pilar, 47, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography late last year. Prosecutors said Pilar, once a fifth-grade teacher with the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District in the San Gabriel Valley, downloaded more than 400 videos at his Victorville home that showed children engaging in sexual conduct.

Many of the videos and images that Pilar downloaded showed minors under the age of 12 engaged in sadistic behavior, and sexual abuse of “an infant and toddler,” according to a news release issued Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

“His actions caused direct and significant harm to the victims in this case, and his offense is aggravated by the fact that he was teaching young children at the time,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed in court.

Pilar was also ordered to pay $115,000 in restitution to his victims. He once taught at Baldwin Academy in La Puente, according to The San Gabriel Valley Tribune.