MD man sentenced to 10 years after asking 14-year-old to send explicit photos, have sex with him

NORTH BETHESDA, Md. - A 37-year-old North Bethesda man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after officials say he attempted to get a 14-year-old girl to have sex with him and sent her explicit photos of himself. 

The Department of Justice and FBI announced Wednesday that Jonathan Willis will spend a decade in prison for coercion and enticement of a minor.

Willis pleaded guilty in a D.C. District court on March 15, nearly a year after he first began communicating with the teen. 

According to investigators, Willis began talking with the female minor who lived in D.C. on March 31, 2022 using Snapchat. He then offered to pay the teen for sexually explicit photographs of herself. 

Over a two-week period, Willis sent the 14-year-old multiple photos of his penis and of himself masturbating, and repeatedly asked her to come to his home in Maryland to "make love." 

The victim refused and turned over their communications to law enforcement. 

On May 12, 2022 and May 24, 2022, an undercover officer took over the teen’s Snapchat profile and on both occasions, Willis requested sexually explicit photographs of the teen, sent her photos and videos of his penis and once again attempted to persuade her to travel to Maryland to engage in sexual activity.

In addition to his prison term, the judge ordered Willis to 10 years of supervised release and he will have to register as a sex offender for 25 years.