Merced County man pleads guilty to paying boys for child porn, federal officials say
A 26-year-old Atwater man pleaded guilty on Monday to paying boys in Utah to pose nude, engage in sexual activity with other minors and send him the photos online, according to prosecutors.
Nikko Adolfo Perez was indicted in a Fresno court last year on charges of sexual exploitation of children, coercion and enticement of a minor, and receipt and distribution of child pornography, according to the US Attorney McGregor W. Scott.
Using the Instagram screen name “captainamerica272018,” Perez paid two boys, ages 8 and 10, to take the sexually explicit photos and send them to Perez through social media, investigators said. Perez, in turn, shared the images with others online.
He paid the boys with Google Play credits, which can be redeemed for video games. When one of the victims said he would call police, Perez told the boys he would show others the photos and threatened to hurt their family members, investigators said.
In a plea agreement, Perez admitted using social media apps like Skype, Kik, Discord, Snapchat and LiveMe to solicit between 50 and 100 minors for sexually explicit images of the children, according to a news release.
Perez faces 15 to 30 years in prison for the sexual exploitation count, 10 years to life for the coercion and enticement count, and five to 20 years for the receipt of child pornography, according to investigators. For all counts, there is a potential $250,000 fine and a lifetime term of supervised release.
Perez is scheduled to be sentenced by Chief US District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill on May 20.
