SCRANTON—A Schuylkill County man was convicted of producing child pornography after coercing a 14-year-old girl from Michigan to send him explicit images.
Josiah Ferrebee, 22, of Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on May 9, 2019, before Senior U.S. District Court Judge James M. Munley, to production and attempted production of child pornography.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Ferrebee admitted to persuading the minor to take sexually explicit images of herself and send them to him via the internet in January 2016.
Ferrebee also admitted that after he persuaded the minor to take and send some initial images to him, he threatened to post those images online unless she sent him more sexually explicit images of herself, which she did.
Judge Munley ordered a pre-sentence investigation to be completed, and scheduled sentencing for August 12, 2019.
The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is 30 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. There is also a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.
The matter was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Francis P. Sempa and Jenny P. Roberts are prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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