PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Phoenix elementary school teaching assistant has been arrested after federal authorities say he had child pornography on his cellphone, some of which he allegedly bought on the dark web.
Court records obtained by Arizona’s Family Investigates on Friday showed Manuel Felix Pantoja was arrested Wednesday after the FBI and other law enforcement agencies searched his Glendale home.
When speaking to the feds, Pantoja described himself as a preschool teacher’s assistant and an after-school teacher at Desert View Elementary School.
Arizona’s Family Investigates has reached out to the Washington Elementary School District for comment on the arrest.
Graphic court documents detailed allegations that stemmed from July 2024 through earlier this month.
The federal filings detailed how Pantoja allegedly purchased illegal images on the dark web and used encrypted messaging apps to obtain photos of children being abused.
Pantoja was tied to a dark website that was taken down. Federal authorities said he used his Cash App virtual wallet to purchase child pornography with cryptocurrencies. In total, authorities said he sent bitcoin totaling about $217 between October 2024 and December 2024.
Other Cash App transactions investigators reviewed showed him sending between $30 and $75 to other app users with the transaction subject lines “Baby content,” “Baby and Toddlers” and “Toddler Age Content.”
When Pantoja was arrested at his home, he told federal agents he owned and controlled the Cash App, which was linked to his Yahoo email address, investigators said. Court papers said he told detectives that he had disputed the bitcoin transaction, which he noted was unusual, and said he did not use Cash App to buy child pornography.
However, he told investigators that he used a separate service to buy Monero, a type of cryptocurrency, when he tried to purchase illegal images from a dark web marketplace, the documents said.
Over the course of the investigation, federal detectives linked Pantoja’s Cash App to the illegal marketplace where he used the username “ManCub,” with date logs showing the types of videos he was allegedly watching, court paperwork said.
In speaking with detectives, Pantoja reportedly said most of the kids he worked with were “autistic and many were nonverbal.” He told the feds that he admitted to having sexual urges or attractions to some of the children, but “never acted on them,” and admitted to being attracted to child pornography, court papers said.
Pantoja also said he was the administrator of a group message that was intended to trade illegal images, agents said. When opening the files app on his phone, investigators said they found “over a hundred images of videos” that were suspected child pornography.
Investigators said they showed Pantoja was linked to several messaging apps under “Man Cub” or “MannyJCub.” One message specifically asked someone whether they had “anything involving four year olds,” they said.
