Former California Preschool Janitor Pleads Guilty To Child Porn Charges

A 35-year-old former preschool janitor from Sacramento County, California pleaded guilty before a federal court Monday to distributing child pornography over social media, according to court documents.

Daniel Wayne Benner, of Orangevale, pleaded guilty to using his account on messenger app Kik to send sexually explicit material involving children to someone in Arkansas in 2019 and to receive child pornography, local newspaper The Sacramento Bee reported, citing a plea agreement.

Benner — who used to offer a service where he would dress up as the character Rainbow Dash from the series "My Little Pony" at birthday parties — had used his account named "hornylonely2005" to trade explicit images on the social media platform.

"Rainbow Dash is looking to come to you for your birthday party she brings candy with her and loves to get hugs and loves posing for pictures contact me for quotes," Benner wrote in a February 2019 Facebook post using his account, according to court files.

He had told FBI agents who visited him in 2019 that the post had general little interest.

"When asked about the 'My Little Pony' costume and proposed party work shown on his Facebook profile, Benner said that he and two friends were going to start a birthday party business," an affidavit stated.

"Benner was supposed to be the person in the costume... However, they were unable to secure any customers," the document noted.

Benner could face up to 20 years in prison and be fined up to $250,000, as per The Sacramento Bee. He is scheduled to appear before court again on Oct. 25 for his sentencing.

Benner had been previously convicted in 2006 for oral copulation with a person under 18, Sacramento Superior Court records showed. He received a six-month sentence and five years of probation and had the conviction dismissed in 2012 after filing a petition with the court.

A similar incident had occurred nearly a month ago when a 36-year-old former police officer from Ochiltree County, Texas pleaded guilty to using his Kik account to share child pornography.

Aaron Bennett Daugherty, of Perryton, pleaded guilty on July 14 to one count of transportation of child pornography. He had been arrested in an undercover investigation by federal authorities into individuals who had been using Kik to share explicit images of children.