Chicago man pleads guilty to coercing 14-year-old girl in Boston to send him sexually explicit videos of herself
A Chicago man has pleaded guilty to federal charges accusing him of convincing a 14-year-old girl in Boston to send him sexually explicit videos of herself on Snapchat.
Joshua Rogers, 31, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to one count of sexual exploitation of children.
Rogers was arrested in December in Chicago, after an investigation determined he had been chatting with a 14-year-old girl over Snapchat, posing as a 17-year-old boy, and talked her into sending him sexually explicit videos of herself.
According to the charges, in July, a 14-year-old girl's parents notified police in Brookline – a few miles west of Boston – that their daughter had been talking to a predator online, after they discovered sexually explicit videos on her on her Spapchat account.
An investigation revealed the girl had been chatting with Rogers on Snapchat, and he had been posing as a 17-year-old boy named "John," who lived in Boston, and when she asked to meet him in person, he would tell 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.
According to the charges, the girl sent Rogers at least seven nude and sexually explicit videos of herself, and later called Rogers on the Signal app, after which he texted her that he loved her and that she "did so good."
Federal prosecutors said Rogers also discussed either kidnapping the girl, or the girl running away from home.
Investigators were able to trace the messages to Rogers' home in Chicago, and he was arrested in December.
He faces 15 to 30 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000. His sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 29.
