Atwater man used social media for sex crimes on children, DOJ says

An Atwater man was indicted Thursday in a federal court for allegedly using social media to get child pornography from boys younger than 11 in Utah.

A federal grand jury returned the three-count indictment against 26-year-old Nikko Adolfo Perez charging him with one count each of sexual exploitation of children, coercion or enticement of a minor and receipt of child pornography, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced in a news release.

Using the Instagram screen name “captainamerica272018,” according to the news release, Perez coerced two boys, ages 8 and 10, into taking and sending sexually explicit photos.

He offered them Google Play credits, which can be redeemed for video games among other things, if they engaged in the sexual acts or poses, according to investigators. Perez also threatened to hurt their family members if they did not comply.

Perez used Omegle, Instagram, Snapchat, Kik and other social media apps, investigators said.

If convicted, Perez faces a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison for the sexual exploitation count, a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of life in prison for the coercion and enticement count, and five to 20 years in prison for the count of receipt of child pornography, investigators said.

Along with a prison sentence, the counts carry fines of $250,000 each and a lifetime of supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa is prosecuting the case.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, go to www.usdoj.gov/psc.

This story was originally published September 20, 2018 at 4:30 PM.