Former City Councilman's Son Nabbed for 25 Counts of Child Porn

SAN ANGELO, TX — The son of former City Councilman Danny Cardenas, Dave Cardenas, 37, was arrested this afternoon at Dillard’s Department Store at the Sunset Mall by Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office investigators.

Witnesses said he was handcuffed in public and escorted out of the store.

Dave Cardenas, as he is listed on the Tom Green County Jail records, was arrested and charged with 25 counts of possession of child pornography. Each count carries a $20,000 bond and his cumulative bond is set at $500,000.

According to the arrest affidavit, Dave Cardenas was discovered via an investigative scan using the system set up by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The system showed Cardenas downloading images from tagged servers, alerting Sheriff’s Office detectives. The investigation led the investigators to the 1400 block of Tempe Post Dr.

Cardenas waived his Miranda Rights and admitted to investigators that he “viewed, possessed, and downloaded images and video files” of minor children—kids younger than 18 years old.

The affidavit notes that Cardenas was active in an online chat room where child pornography was traded with others. Cardenas stored the images and videos on Dropbox using his cellphone, the affidavit states. The latest timestamp on some of the images was in February of this year, according to the affidavit.

Dave’s father, Danny Cardenas, served on the San Angelo City Council for 12 years beginning in the decade of the 1980s. He served as a trustee on the San Angelo ISD school board for three years. He is known as a firebrand liberal and the subject of controversy throughout the years.

His son, Dave, was booked at 12:56 p.m. Wednesday afternoon and charged. Each count, if convicted, is a Third or Second Degree Felony under Texas Statutes. Each count, if convicted of a Second Degree Felony offense, carries with it up to a $10,000 fine and two to 20 years in the state pen. In Texas, child pornography convictions require the defendant to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.