Latest news with #ChaseMulligan
Daily Telegraph
25-05-2025
- Daily Telegraph
Aussie kids among hundreds targeted by vile US sextortionist
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News. Australian children are among more than 100 victims of a depraved sexual predator in the United States who used popular apps like Roblox, Snapchat and Instagram to coerce girls as young as five to send him explicit photos and videos. Chase William Mulligan, 28, is facing up to 60 years in prison after the FBI uncovered his sickening worldwide sextortion plot in which he befriended children in chatrooms before enticing them to send him sexual images that he used to control them, threatening to come to their home and publish the content online if they did not comply with his orders. Over more than four years, he targeted at least 108 children aged between five and 17 across multiple countries including Australia, Canada, the United States, the Philippines, Denmark, Spain and the United Kingdom. FBI Baltimore Special Agent William DelBagno described Mulligan as a 'depraved and dangerous predator'. 'He used social media to target, viciously threaten, and horribly abuse more than 100 minor victims - one as young as five years old,' he said. 'His abhorrent behaviour is not diminished by the fact he was thousands of miles away and never met his victims, rather, it's the opposite. 'Despite his distance, he presents a serious threat to any child he can access through the internet.' U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi (L) and Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Kash Patel (R) speak during a press conference to announce the results of Operation Restore Justice, which targets child sex offenders. Picture: Getty Images via AFP In one instance Mulligan targeted a 12-year-old girl on Snapchat and threatened to come to her house if she did not send him naked videos and pictures every day for weeks, including forcing her to engage in acts of bestiality with the family dog. When the girl's friend, also 12, tried to intervene, Mulligan threatened her, coercing the girl to participate in an explicit video calls with her five-year-old sister. The older sister tried to fight back against Mulligan's directions, telling him 'she's only five' and asked if she complied, would they be done 'forever'. He replied 'Forever, no. Today, yes.' When police raided Mulligan's Maryland home, they discovered 18 devices containing 15,000 child abuse videos and pictures, including at least 1000 he had created himself with the victims he found online. Investigators found 29 videos of one 11-year-old victim recorded through the messaging service Discord complying with Mulligan's instructions of sexual acts to perform for him. She denied his request to record a video of her four-year-old sister and when she tried to sever ties, he contacted her on Skype writing 'add me back on Discord or I'll post all your vids online and in servers. I have everything saved … listen OK.' Mulligan has pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child sexual abuse material and will be sentenced in a federal court in August.
Washington Post
24-05-2025
- Washington Post
Maryland man coerced more than 100 children to send him sexual videos
Sitting behind his computer in a suburban Maryland home, Chase Mulligan spent at least four years coercing and threatening children across the country. To a 12-year-old in Tennessee, he demanded she keep making and sending him sexually explicit videos or he'd publicize those she'd already provided. 'I will post the vid of you and your sister,' the 28-year-old wrote.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Silver Spring man pleads guilty to 'sextortion' of more than 100 young girls
The Brief A Silver Spring man pleaded guilty to 'sextorting' more than 100 young girls. Federal agents say he met young girls on social media apps and convinced them to send him sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves. When they wanted to stop, he would threaten them by saying he would post the images online or come to their house. The suspect targeted kids from all over the country and even had international victims. SILVER SPRING, Md. - The FBI is issuing a warning to parents after a man from Silver Spring just pleaded guilty to victimizing more than 100 young girls on social media sites like Instagram, Snapchat, Discord and Roblox, convincing them to send him naked photos and videos. The feds call it 'sextortion' and said this is one of the most egregious instances of it they have ever seen, with victims ranging in age from 5 to 17 years old. "We've seen a huge rise in these cases and the average age is 10 to 17, which even that blows my mind," said Leslie Adamczyk, who heads up the Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force for the FBI in Maryland. What we know Chase William Mulligan, 28, pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of producing child sexual abuse material. It's in connection to a multi-year investigation into Mulligan where federal agents say he met young girls on social media apps or in chat rooms and 'sextorted' them. That means he convinced at least 108 victims—mostly girls, some boys—to send him sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves. When they wanted to stop, he would threaten them by saying he would post the images online or come to their house. Authorities say from 2019 to 2023, Mulligan targeted kids from all over the country and even had international victims. One detail in court documents that is incredibly disturbing is that he convinced multiple minors to insert objects into their private parts or take part in sexual acts with dogs, taking photos and videos of it all to send to him. Big picture view Even scarier is the fact that cases like this are rapidly on the rise, according to data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In 2023, the NCMEC's cyber tipline received more than 186,000 reports of 'online enticement.' Then in 2024, with data just through October, they had already received more than 450,000 reports. Adamczyk wants parents to hear their message loud and clear: communicate with your kids, make sure you know what they're seeing and sending. "I don't think there is anything wrong with a parent looking at a kid's phone, clicking into apps they're using to make sure they are what they are," Adamczyk said. "There are some things you can hide. For instance, we've seen an app that appears to be a calculator but when you open it, it's an app that you can send pictures in." What's next Mulligan is set to be sentenced in August. His charges require a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years behind bars and a max of 60 years. He will be required to register as a sex offender.
