ATLANTA (AP) A Georgia man faces federal child pornography charges after prosecutors say he persuaded more than 100 young girls to send him sexually explicit photos and videos.
Benjamin Jenkins of Mableton has been arraigned on 13 counts of producing child pornography and five counts of distributing child pornography, the U.S. attorney's office in Atlanta said in a news release Friday. A grand jury indicted him May 23.
His lawyer didn't immediately respond Friday to an email and voicemail seeking comment.
``Parents and children should continually be aware of the masked dangers predators pose on social media,'' U.S. Attorney Byung J. ``BJay'' Pak said in the release.
Jenkins used different names including Rei, Reithe8th and Dani Domo to contact girls between the ages of 12 and 16, prosecutors say. He would send them a pornographic photo and convince them to send him sexually explicit photos of themselves.
Once he had photos, he would threaten the girls to get them to send more, prosecutors say. If the girls resisted, he retaliated against them.
Jenkins sent explicit photos of a girl who blocked him online to her friends and parents and posted a compromising photo of a girl to her high school Twitter page, prosecutors say. He also posted the girls' explicit photos and contact information online and told other men to contact them directly.
Friday
April 26th, 2024
2:31PM
