Jesse Yang, Sexual Coercion of a Minor, California 2011

A Newark man was sentenced to over 7 years in prison for coercing a minor online, announced San Francisco Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Clark Settles and United States Attorney Melinda Haag.

Jesse Yang, 25, was sentenced by the Honorable Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, United States District Court Judge, to 92 months in prison and ten years of supervised release.

According to court documents and information presented at court, on November 16, 2011, the Royal Canadian Mountain Police received a telephone call from a man who reported that he found his 14-year-old daughter partially dressed in front of a computer and webcam at their home.

During the investigation, the victim's father provided the laptop computer to officers. The computer was open to a Skype chat window between the victim and Yang, identifying himself online as 'J.' The chat window contained text messages back and forth with Yang instructing the victim to remove her clothing and open her legs in front of the computer.

Yang met the victim through momegl.com, a website designed to allow users to anonymously chat with strangers. In order to entice his minor victim to undress and perform sexual acts, Yang, posing as a 15-year-old boy, told the victim how beautiful he thought she was and encouraged her to play sexual explicit games while in front of the webcam, during which she would receive points for following instructions suggested by Yang while online.

Yang provided the victim instructions on how to set up her webcam. Through Yang's email address, which he provided to the victim, law enforcement officers were able to ascertain his computer's IP address and thereafter identify him as Jessy Yang.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Randy Luskey and Rodney Villazor of the Northern District of California and was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/newark-man-sentenced-over-7-years-prison-sexual-coercion-minor-over-internet