Chicago man sentenced to 21 years for coercing Boston area teen to send him sexually explicit videos of herself
A Chicago man has been sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to convincing a 14-year-old girl in Massachusetts to send him sexually explicit videos of herself on Snapchat.
Joshua Rogers, 31, pleaded guilty in June to one count of sexual exploitation of children.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston sentenced Rogers to 21 years in prison.
Federal prosecutors said, in July 2025, a 14-year-old girl's parents notified police in Brookline, a town just outside Boston, that they had discovered their daughter had sent sexually explicit videos of herself to someone on Snapchat.
An investigation revealed that Rogers had been posing as a 17-year-old boy named "John," claiming he lived in Boston. When the girl asked to meet him in person, he told her to first send him sexually explicit videos of herself.
In one conversation online, after the girl asked Rogers if he was going to "come get me," he told her it was important to know she would "do anything," and explained he needed to see how far he could push her, because if she wasn't willing to do something over the phone, she wouldn't do it when they were together in person.
Federal prosecutors said the girl sent Rogers at least seven nude and sexually explicit videos of herself. They later chatted on the Signal app, and he texted her that he loved her and that she "did so good."
Rogers also allegedly discussed either kidnapping the girl, or the girl running away from home.
In addition to his prison term, Rogers faces five years of supervised release after he is released from prison, and must pay $5,000 in restitution.
