SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 30-year-old Tustin man was sentenced Feb. 24 to 40 years in prison for sexually assaulting three boys.

Martin Tovar pleaded guilty July 29 to 21 felony counts of sexual assaults on the three boys dating from February 2012 through February 2015, according to court records.

Tovar, who was ordered to register as a sex offender, was given credit for 1,446 days behind bars.

Authorities became suspicious of Tovar while Homeland Security was investigating another man who was sexually abusing a relative and sending child pornography of the victim to other sexual predators, including Tovar, according to testimony from investigators at Tovar’s preliminary hearing. Authorities served a search warrant at the defendant’s apartment in June 2019 and found more than a thousand images of child pornography on his devices, investigators said.

Tovar was related to one of the boys, who told investigators the abuse started when he was in kindergarten and continued through third grade, according to the testimony. Two other victims were brothers, and one said he was sexually assaulted once around Christmas Day, according to the testimony.