Diego Ramos, Child Exploitation, New Jersey 2022

A Pennsylvania man was arrested and charged with sexually exploiting and attempting to entice a minor victim, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.

Diego Ramos, 19, of Blakeslee, Pennsylvania, is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of attempted enticement of a minor.

According to documents filed in this case, Ramos used multiple Instagram accounts and other social media and messaging platforms to coerce a minor to send sexually explicit images and videos to him between May 29, 2021, and November 29, 2022.

Ramos threatened the victim with public exposure if they did not send additional sexually explicit images and videos requested by him, and caused the victim to pay him $12,982 to stop him from publicly releasing the images.

The count of sexual exploitation of a child carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, while the count of attempted enticement of a minor carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison. Both counts are punishable by a maximum of life in prison.

Ramos appeared on November 30, 2022, before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa in Newark federal court and was detained.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenny Chung of the OCDETF/Narcotics Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The investigation was led by special agents of the FBI’s Newark Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy, and assisted by the FBI-Philadelphia, the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, the Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, Police Department, and the Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Police Department.

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