A 28-year-old Lihue man is facing a federal criminal charge after he allegedly trafficked in child pornography, posed as a teenage boy on Snapchat and tried to collect sexually explicit photos from “hundreds” of underage girls.
Desmond Micah Alao, aka “Jaykob,” was charged Aug. 19 in a 14-page criminal complaint with a single count of possession of child pornography.
Alao submitted to detention Monday and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Sept. 8 at 10:30 a.m. before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield. Mansfield granted the U.S. Department of Justice’s motion to detain Alao without bail at the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu.
In March, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Honolulu field office got an online tip via the FBI National Threat Operations Center about the sextortion of a 13-year-old girl, referred to in federal court documents as “minor victim 1.”
The girl’s mother reported the phone number to law enforcement of a man who “engaged in sexually explicit talk” with MV1. The man then asked “her to show her body over FaceTime.”
In an interview with FBI agents Aug. 4, Alao allegedly admitted that “he did ask MV1 for sexually explicit photos and videos” and knew she was 13.
He also told federal agents he had a Snapchat account where he went by the name “Jaykob” and usually “adjusted the age he portrayed based on the age of the minor with whom he was communicating.”
“Alao estimated he has been doing this type of activity since COVID-19, approximately four to five years. Alao estimated he attempted to get pictures from at least hundreds of minors on Snapchat. He told agents about two to three additional minors who he talked to in the same manner as MV1,” according to an affidavit authored by an FBI agent.
“Minor Victim 2” told FBI agents on Aug. 15 that she met Alao on Snapchat when he posed as an 18-year-old living on Kauai.
She told FBI agents in an interview that at Alao’s request, she made sexually explicit photos and videos including one of her masturbating, in exchange for $500 to $700.
FBI agents allegedly reviewed Alao’s CashApp transactions that confirmed the payments. The girl was shown pictures of a 15-year-old white boy and the girl confirmed that was who Alao claimed to be online.
Department of Motor Vehicle records also reflect that Alao is 28 years old, and “not a white teenage boy.”
“MV2 stated ‘Jaykob’ wanted to fly to the Big Island, where she lived, to have sex with her. MV2 never wanted to and said no when he asked. MV2 was a little suspicious of ‘Jaykob’ because he never talked about his life and never showed his face in pictures,” wrote the FBI agent.
Source: The Garden Island
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