A 26-year-old Newhall man was arrested Monday night on suspicion of sending sexual images deemed to be “obscene matter.”
Justin Bartlett was arrested at 9:30 p.m. on suspicion of sending obscene matter between May 1 and June 15.
The original arrest, according to the Santa Clarita Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, indicated that the images had been sent to a minor. However, the criminal complaint filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court does not mention a minor.
“‘Obscene matter’ means matter, taken as a whole, that to the average person, applying contemporary statewide standards, appeals to the prurient interest, that, taken as a whole, depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and that, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value,” reads the California Penal Code.
The violation of sending obscene material for this case is considered a misdemeanor, according to the criminal complaint.
The case is being handled by detectives out of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Unit.
On the SCV Sheriff’s Station arrest logs, Bartlett was listed as unemployed and had been arrested on his 26th birthday.
SVU Detectives could not be immediately reached for comment on Wednesday.
Bartlett was being held in lieu of $120,000 bail. On Wednesday, he pleaded not guilty and the case was set for pretrial, in Department 3 of the Santa Clarita courthouse on Aug. 17.
