Latest news with #sexualexploitation
CBS News
14 hours ago
- CBS News
Westmoreland County man charged with trafficking after paying girl for sex
A Westmoreland County man is facing trafficking charges after police said he met a girl on Snapchat and gave her marijuana and $20 before having sex with her. According to the criminal complaint, the investigation began in November when police got a ChildLine tip saying a juvenile was "having sexual relations with older males" as well as sending them explicit photos and videos, sometimes for money. After looking at the victim's phone, police said their investigation led them to 30-year-old Sam Oglesby of Greensburg. The victim told police that she met with Oglesby and had sex with him in November, even though she told him that she was under 18. The victim told police that Oglesby drove her to a house in Greensburg, and before sex, he gave her marijuana, which she smoked. She said he also gave her $20. As part of the investigation, police said they took Oglesby's phone and found an explicit video that had been sent to the victim. An officer plugged Oglesby's phone in to charge it and stepped outside. When the officer came back, the criminal complaint says Oglesby's iPhone had been factory reset. A forensic analyst explained that any electronic device capable of connecting to the internet could be used to factory reset an iPhone. Oglesby is now facing a slew of charges, including trafficking in individuals, disseminating sexual material to a minor, corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility and tampering with physical evidence.
BBC News
15 hours ago
- BBC News
Carlisle man posted pictures of children being abused
A married father who shared dozens of pictures of children being sexually abused has been handed a suspended prison Hodgson, 57, of Carlisle, was arrested at work last September after police became aware of images of children uploaded on a social media Crown Court heard Hodgson claimed to have no sexual interest in children, but the sentencing judge concluded that assertion was "fanciful".Having admitted making and distributing indecent photographs of children and possessing extreme pornographic images, Hodgson was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years. He must also complete rehabilitation sessions and 150 hours of unpaid work. 'Grotesque' abuse Two mobile phones seized from him contained illegal still and moving images showing children aged between seven and 15 being sexually found a total of 56 images, with 38 logged in the most serious class of category interviewed, Hodgson admitted he was sent the images which he copied, posted and forwarded on during a period of offending between February 2023 and August last William Beardmore told Hodgson: "Those children, somewhere in the world, were being abused by individuals in the most grotesque way."Notwithstanding the fact you did not take these photographs, you were part of the reason there is a demand for this is now subject to sex offender notification requirements and must also adhere to the strict terms of a prevention order, both for 10 years. He was also barred from working with children and vulnerable adults. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
The Independent
18 hours ago
- The Independent
Exclusive details: Feds accuse Virginia youth pastor of trading explicit pics with teen between calls with his wife
A 34-year-old youth pastor in Virginia is facing federal charges over allegations he posed as a teenage boy to exchange nude photos and videos with young girls, telling one of them last month that it was 'time for her to see her first d**k,' according to an FBI probable cause affidavit obtained first by The Independent. 'I don't know if im readyyyy im only 15 and I barely know anything abt that whole topiccc,' the girl responded. Throughout the conversation, Jacob Ryan Barnett – who is known as Pastor Jake to parishioners – 'repeatedly asked' the youngster for pictures of her crotch, the affidavit states. On at least two occasions, it says Barnett messaged with the teen while speaking to his wife on the phone, at one point receiving a clip of the girl's exposed genitalia she had filmed at the age of 14. Barnett, the father of a two-year-old boy, was arrested in North Carolina on Wednesday, several hours after The Independent requested comment from the Richmond, Virginia, U.S. Attorney's Office. Charging documents had been accidentally left unsealed before FBI agents took Barnett into custody. Reached by phone before he was apprehended, Barnett claimed to be 'totally confused' about the situation and declined to elaborate. Barnett is the Associate Pastor of Students & Mobilization at the Catawba Valley Baptist Church. He previously served for five years as the head of the children's ministry at the Bethel Baptist Church in Yorktown, Virginia. 'Jake felt the call to ministry when he was in middle school,' Barnett's church bio reads. 'He has volunteered in children's and youth ministry at each church he has attended. Jake loves teaching the next generation about the truths of the Bible and serving God's people.' He graduated from the College at Southeastern in 2018 and is currently working on his M.A. at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, according to the bio. His wife Cayla graduated from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University – which has endured sex scandals of its own – in 2020. 'Together, they enjoy visiting historical places such as the Battlefields of Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg,' the bio says. 'Jake and Cayla love playing board games, card games, and spending time with family.' Eleven days ago, Barnett delivered a sermon, 'The Story of Salvation,' in which he touched on the apparent importance of 'settling with your accuser.' The emails and phone numbers Barnett used to communicate with his alleged victims matched certain ones he used to communicate with churchgoers; a source close to the investigation confirmed the details of Barnett's professional background. A call to Catawba Valley Baptist Church on Thursday went straight to voicemail. Barnett does not yet have an attorney listed in court records. On May 20, the FBI National Threat Operations Center received an online tip from a mother in Michigan that a then-unknown subject had been attempting to groom her 15-year-old daughter, according to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case. Two days earlier, the teen had received a message on TikTok that 'appeared to belong to a 17-year-old boy from Virginia who called himself 'Jodie Johnson,'' the affidavit states. It says investigating agents interviewed the teen's mother, who said she had gone through her daughter's phone and found a text chain between her and 'Johnson,' in which the girl had sent him an assortment of nude pictures. In early June, the FBI subpoenaed Verizon for an ID of the account holder behind Johnson's number, which showed it belonged to Barnett. Google records the bureau obtained showed the number linked to his various emails, one of which was his official Bethel Baptist Church account, the affidavit shows. Barnett's TikTok account appeared to be following 'thousands of minor girls,' according to the affidavit. The 15-year-old girl, who is identified in court filings as 'M.V.,' for 'Minor Victim,' told investigators that she knew people from Virginia and thought 'Johnson' looked like one of her friends. The messages showed Barnett, as Johnson, pestering M.V. for nude photos and videos, and specifically requested 'something that he could masturbate to,' which she duly provided, the affidavit continues. In an interview with an FBI adolescent specialist, M.V. said she at first 'didn't want to' send Barnett the explicit materials, but eventually gave in. However, she specified that everything she shared was already on her camera roll from when she was 14 or 15 years-old, according to the affidavit. From there, things became 'very graphic,' with Barnett describing to M.V. how he would have sex with her, the affidavit goes on. Barnett then sent M.V. a picture of himself in boxers, with the outline of his genitalia visible through the underwear, the affidavit says. '[Barnett] asked M.V. when she last shaved her vagina,' the affidavit contends. 'She lied and said the day before… M.V. sent an older video of herself masturbating when she was 14, which depicted her exposed vagina.' While M.V. was asleep, her mom took her daughter's phone to message someone and spotted the photos and video she had sent to Barnett, according to the affidavit. It says that when she googled the recipient's number, she saw that it belonged to 'a grown man named Jacob Barnett.' Phone records showed Barnett had chatted with M.V. while talking to his wife on at least two occasions. On May 19, at 4:30 p.m., Barnett messaged M.V.'s phone, answered a call from his wife at 4:32 p.m., and M.V. messaged Barnett a batch of photos at 4:33 p.m. He then wrote back to M.V. at 4:34 p.m., according to the affidavit. 'In other words, within less than five minutes, Barnett messaged M.V., talked to his wife for a minute, and messaged M.V. again,' the affidavit states. On May 20, at 10:34 a.m., Barnett messaged M.V., answered a call from his wife at 10:35 a.m., and messaged Barnett while that call was still in progress, the affidavit maintains. Prior to taking his wife's call, Barnett had responded to M.V.'s previous four messages 'within approximately 30 seconds,' according to the affidavit. In late July, records from Snap, Inc. revealed Barnett had also been communicating with a second 15-year-old girl whose username The Independent is withholding for her privacy. Under the usernames 'duh_jodie' and 'jodie_j1234,' Barnett allegedly told the girl it 'was time to see her first d**k,' which she resisted, but sent pictures of his private parts anyway, the affidavit states. While haranguing the girl for nude shots of herself, Barnett 'described how he would have sex with [her] and encouraged her to masturbate,' according to the affidavit. 'She said she had never masturbated, prompting Barnett to explain how to do it,' the affidavit says. She ended up sending Barnett a slew of photos, but agents were unable to view them because they were either encrypted or deleted, the affidavit explains. However, the context of the conversation made it clear they were sexually explicit in nature. Barnett is now charged with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life. He is set to make his initial court appearance in Roanoke early next week.
The Australian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Australian
E-Safety Commissioner says social giants ‘turning a blind eye' to child sexual abuse and exploitation
E-Safety commissioner Julie Inman-Grant has lashed tech giants including Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft for 'turning a blind eye' on rife child sexual exploitation and abuse circulating on its platforms. Types of abuse include grooming and sexual extortion, and the proliferation of images and material. None of the social media giants surveyed used tools to detect child sexual exploitation, the e-safety report found. The first biannual report uses findings submitted by the tech giants themselves, and covers eight platforms including Apple, Discord, Google (the parent company of YouTube), Meta (which houses Facebook and Instagram), Microsoft, Skype, Snap and WhatsApp. Apple, Discord, Google and Microsoft were singled out for not using hash matching, a kind of file comparison tool to detect the spread of harmful content on known abusive material, which has already been detected by child abuse hotlines and law enforcement. The report also attacked Apple services and YouTube for not tracking the number of reports they received on child sexual abuse, or how long they took to respond to the complaints. Both platforms also failed to disclose the number of trust and safety staff hired by the platform, according to the report. It also found that despite warnings from the eSafety office dating back to 2022 and 2023, only Meta used tools to detect grooming, while only Meta and WhatsApp had tools to identify sexual extortion. Ms Inman-Grant said that 'when left to their own devices' social media companies weren't 'prioritising the protection of children and are seemingly turning a blind eye to crimes occurring on their services'. She also urged the eight companies to make 'meaningful progress' to protect children. 'We need to keep the pressure on the tech industry as a whole to live up to their responsibility to protect society's most vulnerable members from the most egregious forms of harm and that's what these periodic notices are designed to encourage,' she said. 'No other consumer-facing industry would be given the licence to operate by enabling such heinous crimes against children on their premises, or services.' This comes after Communications Minister Annika Wells confirmed YouTube would be included in the under-16s social media ban, with the video streaming giant already threatening the federal government with a High Court challenge. However children and teens under 16 will still be able to access the platform in a logged out state or through an adult's account. Jessica Wang NewsWire Federal Politics Reporter Jessica Wang is a federal politics reporter for NewsWire based in the Canberra Press Gallery. She previously covered NSW state politics for the Wire and has also worked at and Mamamia covering breaking news, entertainment, and lifestyle. NewsWire An 84-year-old man has died three days after he and his wife, 82, were allegedly assaulted by a man known to them at their home near Wagga Wagga. NewsWire A 'hardworking father' who died at a construction site has been remembered as someone who always put others first.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Social giants lashed for child sex abuse fail
E-Safety commissioner Julie Inman-Grant has lashed tech giants including Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft for 'turning a blind eye' on rife child sexual exploitation and abuse circulating on its platforms. Types of abuse include grooming and sexual extortion, and the proliferation of images and material. None of the social media giants surveyed used tools to detect child sexual exploitation, the e-safety report found. The first biannual report uses findings submitted by the tech giants themselves, and covers eight platforms including Apple, Discord, Google (the parent company of YouTube), Meta (which houses Facebook and Instagram), Microsoft, Skype, Snap and WhatsApp. Apple, Discord, Google and Microsoft were singled out for not using hash matching, a kind of file comparison tool to detect the spread of harmful content on known abusive material, which has already been detected by child abuse hotlines and law enforcement. The report also attacked Apple services and YouTube for not tracking the number of reports they received on child sexual abuse, or how long they took to respond to the complaints. Both platforms also failed to disclose the number of trust and safety staff hired by the platform, according to the report. It also found that despite warnings from the eSafety office dating back to 2022 and 2023, only Meta used tools to detect grooming, while only Meta and WhatsApp had tools to identify sexual extortion. Ms Inman-Grant said that 'when left to their own devices' social media companies don't 'prioritising the protection of children and are seemingly turning a blind eye to crimes occurring on their services'. She also urged the eight companies to make 'meaningful progress' to protect children. 'We need to keep the pressure on the tech industry as a whole to live up to their responsibility to protect society's most vulnerable members from the most egregious forms of harm and that's what these periodic notices are designed to encourage,' she said. 'No other consumer-facing industry would be given the licence to operate by enabling such heinous crimes against children on their premises, or services.' This comes after Communications Minister Annika Wells confirmed YouTube would be included in the under-16s social media ban, with the video streaming giant already threatening the federal government with a High Court challenge. However children and teens under 16 will still be able to access the platform in a logged out state or through an adult's account.
