Bestiality Added to Charges in Rochester Child Pornography Case

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The criminal complaint recently filed against a Rochester man accused of disseminating child pornography has been amended to include a rarely seen criminal charge.

33-year-old Emanuel Ernesto Zavala was charged earlier this month after Rochester police launched an investigation based on a cyber tip that was received in early September concerning 48 videos of suspected child sexual abuse material. According to the criminal complaint, the information involved files that had been uploaded to the Snapchat and Kik social media sites between April and June.

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The court document also indicated the cyber tip included information about 30 videos that were allegedly sent by Zavala to other users of those sites. It was alleged that the videos depicted children between the ages of 5 and 11 years old engaging in sexual acts with adults.

The charges say investigators were able to link the social media accounts to Zavala and his residence in southeast Rochester. A search warrant was executed at the property on October 1.

The criminal complaint states that Zavala eventually gave a statement to investigators and admitted that "he had been sending messages and videos of children engaging in sexual acts through Snapchat for more than a year."

He was originally charged with one count each of disseminating and possessing child pornography. The complaint has now been amended to include a felony count of engaging in electronic communication relating or describing sexual conduct with a child and a misdemeanor count of bestiality involving an animal.

Zavala was arraigned in Olmsted County Court on the amended complaint this morning. His conditional bail was continued at $5000.

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