A federal jury in Indiana has convicted Lorenzo Johnson, a 33-year-old registered sex offender, of conspiring to produce child pornography using a fake Facebook account.
Jurors found Johnson guilty of three counts of conspiracy to produce child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents, Johnson used a fake Facebook account to identify women with access to children who were experiencing financial difficulties. He offered those women money to take sexually explicit photos of minor children.
Johnson’s co-conspirators have been indicted for conspiring to produce child pornography. Johnson was previously convicted in 2009 in Illinois for aggravated sexual abuse involving a minor.
The conviction sends a strong message that people who sexually abuse young and helpless children will be held accountable, said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr.
Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced on December 17, 2021, and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years and a maximum penalty of 180 years in prison.
The FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office investigated the case. Trial Attorney Eduardo Palomo of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Kelley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana are prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Related Federal Cases
- James Venable, Child Pornography Possession, Indiana 2022 · Indiana
- Lawrence Tinsman, Distribution of Child Pornography, Indiana 2013 · New York
- Mark Nagel, Child Pornography Production, Indiana 2023 · Kansas
- James Lee Willis, Child Pornography, Indiana 2018 · Alabama
- Raymond Belsan, Child Pornography Distribution, Indiana 2014 · Kansas
Key Facts
- State: Indiana
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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