Silver Spring man pleads guilty to 'sextortion' of more than 100 young girls
Silver Spring man pleads guilty to "sextortion" of over 100 girls
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.
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.