In 2004, Patrick O’Reilly backed a stolen Suburban up to Kerr Hall and loaded $176,687 worth of video production equipment into the vehicle. He escaped completely undetected.

Now, nearly five years later, the stolen property has been recovered and O’Reilly is sitting in Santa Clara County Jail on several counts of child pornography.

According to the Milpitas Police Dept., O’Reilly was booked on Nov. 25 and charged with possession of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, contact of a minor to commit sexual offenses, use of a minor to perform prohibited acts — and two counts of stolen property.

University of California Police Department Sgt. Matt Bowman said O’Reilly was working as a student employee in Kerr Hall at the time of the burglary.

“During Commencement Weekend in June of 2004, O’Reilly stole a tan university-owned Suburban, loaded the vehicle with video production equipment stolen from Kerr Hall and drove off,” Bowman said. “O’Reilly then drove the stolen Suburban to Goleta Beach and abandoned it there.”

According to Bowman, O’Reilly made off with high caliber video production equipment capable of producing professional quality films — a crime that went unnoticed by authorities until the following day.

Although the stolen vehicle was recovered, the production equipment had remained missing.

Then on Nov. 25, Bowman said the Milpitas Police Dept. arrested the 24-year-old software engineer on child pornography charges and the stolen property surfaced.

“O’Reilly was located and arrested by the Milpitas Police Dept. after they found him in possession of child pornography and video production equipment which they realized UCSB had reported as stolen,” Bowman said. “Then they contacted us and our department got involved.”

As a result of the arrest, three stolen items worth an estimated $2,000 have been recovered by UCSB. However, an ongoing investigation to locate the residual property remains underway. Individuals with information regarding this investigation are encouraged to contact campus police at (805) 893-7188.

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