FBI: Aurora man used popular video app to seek child porn
An Aurora man accused of enticing at least four girls to produce pornographic images of themselves on a social medial network was charged in a federal complaint Monday.
Richard Barnett, 39, was charged with producing and transporting child pornography.
According to federal prosecutors and the FBI, some of the underage girls reported to police they received sexually explicit messages on musical.ly, a Shanghai- and San Francisco-based social media network popular among teens and preteens in which users post short videos of themselves.
The preteens told investigators a person with the username "davidbanks1014" said he was 13 years old and asked them to show sexually-explicit content, authorities said. In some instances, when the girls refused to produce pornographic images of themselves, Barnett threatened to kidnap, rape and kill them, according to the complaint.
Authorities said they determined the account had been created in April using Barnetts's cellphone number. They executed a search warrant of Barnett's home Monday and reported finding files on a computer indicative of child pornography.
Barnett is due in court at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
If convicted of producing child pornography, Barnett could face up to 30 years in prison. If convicted of transporting child pornography he faces between five and 20 years in prison.