Darren M. Kamnitzer, Child Exploitation, Ohio 2019
Blacklick Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Coercing 10-Year-Old into Sending Explicit Photos
COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a disturbing case of online exploitation, Darren M. Kamnitzer, 45, of Blacklick, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for producing child pornography.
Kamnitzer, a Network Administrator at the Worthington Public Library, posed as the manager for Jacob Sartorious, an American teenage singer and internet personality, to lure a 10-year-old girl into sending him explicit photos and videos of herself.
According to court documents, in September 2018, law enforcement in Switzerland received information that Kamnitzer, using the Twitter handle “jacobauditions,” had contacted the 10-year-old girl and convinced her to send him multiple sexually explicit photographs and videos of herself.
The defendant initially requested photographs of the girl clothed, then instructed her to take photographs in a bikini, and eventually coerced her into sending him nude videos focused on her genitalia and anus. Kamnitzer assured the girl that it was all part of the audition and that all the other participants had done it.
When Swiss authorities learned of the activity, they contacted Twitter, who shut down Kamnitzer’s account. Twitter also submitted a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the FBI became involved in the case.
The FBI traced the IP address used to a computer at the Worthington Public Library, where Kamnitzer worked as a Network Administrator. A search warrant executed at Kamnitzer’s residence revealed evidence that he had communicated with other minors online.
Kamnitzer waived indictment and pleaded guilty to a bill of information in April 2019. U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman commended the cooperative investigation by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Heather A. Hill, who is representing the United States in this case.
A 45-year-old Blacklick man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for producing child pornography after posing as a teenage internet sensation to coerce a 10-year-old girl into sending explicit photos and videos of herself.
Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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