OAKHURST, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Christian Edwards of Oakhurst pleaded not guilty to charges of possession of child sexual abuse material earlier this week.

Now, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office is releasing new details about what they found inside his home.

YourCentralValley.com’s Briana Byus sat down with Madera County District Attorney Sally Moreno to discuss the charges.

Byus
“Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. The last we heard was that 44-year-old Christian Parmalee Edwards was arrested on March 19th, but we learned [Friday] that when they went to arrest him, they found that he was in the process of watching a video that he had just taken three days prior. What does the case look like right now for you guys in the district attorney’s office?”

Moreno
“So right now, what we have received from the sheriff’s office is just a report detailing images on his phone. He will have a maximum sentence of five years in prison.”

Byus
“So just to be clear, right now, he’s charged with the possession of the child sexual abuse material – the 4,000 digital files that they found – but he’s not charged with filming people while they were staying in his rental property?”

Moreno
“That’s correct. We have not received reports detailing that from the sheriff yet, and so, obviously, we can’t, we can’t take action until that time.”

Byus
“Now, some of the other really disturbing information that we got confirmed from the sheriff’s office over the last couple of days was that they found in his home a lifelike child sex doll… What does it bring up in you as you investigate something like this, that I think most people would feel a little sick even reading about?”

Moreno
“It is. It does make you feel a little sick. It shows that this person is graduating from looking at images, to engaging in activity with some kind of a doll, and moving, you know, more and more closer to actually harming an actual child.”

Byus
“You mentioned that with the current charges, he would only serve a maximum of five years. But do you think that this legal process could take a while and give him a lot of time credits?”

Moreno
“No, absolutely. And that’s in every case. You know, as long as a defendant sits in custody awaiting trial, he or she will get credit for that time when they go to prison. For example, if it takes us two and a half years to litigate the case, then that would be something that we call a ‘paper commitment’ that happens relatively frequently, where he would never actually go to prison. He would just be released from county jail.”

Byus
“So what’s your message or commitment to the community who is maybe concerned for the safety of their own children right now?”

Moreno
“As well they should be. They should be very concerned. Talk to your legislator and ask them to address the issue.”

Investigators also announced this week that they found newly-purchased children’s clothing in his home.

One of the reasons Edwards was arrested was on suspicion that he was filming women and children who stayed at his rental property.

Moreno says they cannot charge him on that unless victims come forward and confirm they did not give permission for him to take those videos.