Berkeley man charged with posting 'child porn' photos
Despite high bail and his refusal to come to court, Izaiah Temple was freed on his own recognizance. Police say he shared photos of child sexual abuse.
A man who had been living at a Berkeley homeless shelter has been charged with uploading child sexual abuse materials to the internet, court papers show.
Berkeley police began investigating Izaiah Temple in November after getting an alert from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force about a photograph uploaded to Facebook that showed a prepubescent girl "posing in a sexual manner," according to charging papers.
Police noted that Temple was known to BPD as a "transient resident in Berkeley… who also has a long criminal history."
According to court papers, that includes one strike and a robbery conviction in Alameda County in 2020 that resulted in probation.
Temple reportedly also worked as an intern for the city of Berkeley in 2018, according to records online.
At the time of his arrest, he was living at Harrison House at 711 Harrison St. in northwest Berkeley.
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After getting the cybercrime tip, a Berkeley police detective working in the Youth Services Division sought search warrants so he could investigate the case further.
During the investigation, the detective heard from Facebook about a second image, of a different girl, also classified as child sexual abuse material that had been uploaded from Temple's Facebook account, BPD wrote.
When BPD spoke with Temple in December, he denied sharing the photos but admitted to being in Berkeley when they were uploaded, the detective wrote.
Izaiah Temple. BPD
During the police interview, Temple also admitted he'd had "a crush" on two young girls related to a friend but "denied ever doing anything sexual with them," according to charging papers.
In December, Berkeley police arrested Temple, whose bail was set at $150,000, according to booking records.
The Alameda County district attorney's office charged him with one felony count of possessing or distributing explicit matter depicting a minor.
A felony conviction could require him to register as a sex offender, according to charging papers.
After his arrest in mid-December, Temple refused to show up for five court dates, from Dec. 18-27, so he could be arraigned.
When he appeared for the sixth date, on Dec. 30, the defense asked for Temple to be released on his own recognizance, which Judge Elena Condes granted over the prosecution's opposition.
Condes also ordered Temple to appear in court for future hearings, turn over his passwords and "not possess any child pornography."
He is scheduled to enter a plea in the case Monday at the Wiley Manuel Courthouse.
