March 23, 2024 - LOS ANGELES – A former Beverly Hills-based licensed marriage and family therapist has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly distributing child sexual abuse material, the Justice Department announced on Friday.

Ron Gad, 49, of the Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles, was charged Thursday with one count of distribution of child pornography.

Gad, whose marriage and family therapist license expired in November 2023, is free on $250,000 bond. He is expected to be arraigned on May 3 in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

According to the indictment, on December 2, 2021, Gad knowingly distributed child sexual abuse material (CSAM) involving a pre-teen via the internet and which had been shipped in interstate commerce.

Court documents previously filed in this case state that in the fall of 2022, law enforcement became aware that Gad, who maintained a Beverly Hills office for his therapy practice, had engaged in sexually explicit online chats with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl, but who in fact was an undercover law enforcement officer.

In October 2022, Gad allegedly drove more than 180 miles from Beverly Hills to San Luis Obispo to a public park, an arranged meeting site where he believed he was to meet the “girl.” Law enforcement conducted a traffic stop, arrested Gad and seized several digital devices, according to an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint in this matter.

A search of Gad’s digital devices pursuant to a search warrant led to evidence of Gad’s distribution of CSAM, as well as communications with suspected minors and internet searches related to sex with minors, the affidavit alleges.

The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office previously charged Gad in state court. That case was dismissed so Gad could be charged in federal court.

An indictment and a complaint contain allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted, Gad would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations and the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office are investigating this matter.

Anyone who may have additional information concerning this case is encouraged to call HSI's tip line at (866) 347-2423.

Assistant United States Attorneys Damaris Diaz of the Violent and Organized Crimes Section and Angela C. Makabali of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.
Source: DOJ Release