Hammond man gets 50 years for role in Facebook child porn ring – Chicago Tribune

Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune. A federal judge sentenced a Hammond man to 50 years Thursday for his role in soliciting child porn through Facebook. Federal prosecutors alleged Johnson used Facebook to target poor women, messaging them with promises of cash if they would send “sexually explicit” pictures of babies or young children. Three women responded, sending pornographic images of genitalia — including one Chicago woman of her own child, prosecutors alleged. Johnson claimed he didn’t know her name, according to filings. All three were later indicted on a charge of child porn, federal prosecutors said. One pleaded guilty, a second is set to plead Dec. 21. A third died during the investigation, according to a release. An informant tipped off the FBI, while the Gang Response Investigative Team (GRIT) picked up the case. An investigator took over and pretended to be the informant, while communicating with a fake account later linked by IP addresses to Johnson. FBI agents secured a search warrant Dec. 17, 2019, for Johnson’s apartment on the 800 block of Jackson Avenue. He was there along with another…
Read More