SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 29, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A Woods Cross man has pleaded guilty to child exploitation charges in federal court for offering money online to minors in two states to send him their nude photos.
The case went federal when the man turned his attention to a second state, Arkansas. The case was prosecuted in Salt Lake City where Landon Germaine, 24, faces sentencing in January after entering his guilty pleas last week, according to a press release from the the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.
“Germaine utilized social media and cellular applications such as Kik, Telegram, Periscope, Snapchat, and text messaging to solicit graphic sexual photos and videos from minor children,” the release says.
“A review of Germaine’s electronic devices contained evidence of chats on various applications with numerous female children under 18 years of age, and some chats with children as young as 11 years old. In these chats, Germaine provided specific instructions on what the minors should depict in the photos and videos and Germaine repeatedly offered to pay the minors money for sending him sexually explicit videos.”
In the District of Utah case, Germaine pled guilty to felony interstate coercion and enticement of a minor. In the Western District of Arkansas case, Germaine pled guilty to attempted sexual exploitation via production of child pornography. Sentencing is set for Jan. 5.
The case against Germaine proved fairly broad, according to the U.S. Attorney for Utah’s release. It was investigated by Special Agents from the FBI and officers and detectives from the Woods Cross Police Department, and in Arkansas, the Bentonville Police Department, the Rogers Police Department, plus law enforcement officials from 14 additional U.S. judicial districts.
