A federal jury on Thursday convicted a Brooklyn man on charges of sexual exploitation where the defendant groomed 13-year-old girls he met online and paid them to produce sexually-explicit videos and photos.
Dewitt John, 31, was convicted on charges of sexual exploitation of a child and accessing with intent to view child pornography, according to Joseph Nocella, Jr.,
United States Attorney Eastern District of New York.
On or about March 2024, John identified a 13-year-old girl who had posted photographs of herself on a Reddit forum and whose posts disclosed her age. John
offered to pay the girl for her for photographs and then initiated contact on Instagram. John proceeded to groom the victim by sending her money through Cash App in exchange for sexually explicit videos of herself, prosecutors said.
Despite the victim expressing discomfort and reluctance to comply, John continued to pressure and coerce her into producing the material. During the course of this conduct, John sent the victim explicit and graphic messages describing the sexual acts he wanted her to perform, according to prosecutors.
John also targeted a second 13-year-old minor victim through similar online methods, grooming her and inducing her to send him naked images of herself for his gratification, prosecutors said.
“From behind his computer screen, Dewitt John preyed on vulnerable children online, exploiting their innocence for his own gratification and using cash payments to coerce minors as young as 13 into producing sexually explicit videos of themselves,” Nocella said in a statement. “This conviction demonstrates our office’s unwavering commitment to protecting children from online predators."
John has a history of violence and abuse against young women, starting with his attempt to abduct a 17-year-old in Stockholm in 2014, according to the New York Daily News.
John spent about a year in a Swedish prison in 2014, after he tried to abduct a 17-year-old girl he met online, according to court documents, the newspaper said. He met the Swedish victim twice in person, and — after becoming enraged when she wanted to cut off contact — in April 2014 he traveled to Stockholm with an army knife, rope and cable ties, the paper said.
When sentenced, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and up to life imprisonment.
