FBI arrest 2 Newburgh men for alleged sexual exploitation of children online
Federal officials say 22-year-old Lonnie Youmans and 23-year-old Carsen Mansfield were taken into custody in Orange County, New York on Tuesday.
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2h agoTwo Newburgh men were arrested by the FBI this week for allegedly sexually exploiting children and underage teens online for months.
Federal officials say 22-year-old Lonnie Youmans and 23-year-old Carsen Mansfield were taken into custody in Orange County, New York on Tuesday.
Youmans is accused of using social media apps, like Discord and Telegram, to sexually exploit and extort children as young as 12 years old. Federal officials say he was also found in possession of hundreds of videos and images depicting child sex abuse, involving children as young as toddlers.
Authorities say Youmans used social media apps to entice children to send sexually explicit material to him and threatened to leak their personal images if they didn’t send more. In at least one case involving a 15-year-old, Youmans allegedly shared the images with Discord users, resulting in three other people to contact the victim and demand similar images, according to the federal indictment.
In Mansfield’s case, he’s accused of contacting an underage teen online after obtaining sexually explicit images of the victim and threatening to share them if she didn’t send more.
It’s not clear if the two cases are connected. News 12 reached out to the FBI for more information but didn’t immediately receive a response.
According to Mansfield’s indictment, in one exchange, Mansfield wrote, “We should be friends. You don’t want these videos to get out.” Court documents show the victim responded, “I’m literally just trying to live my life in peace. I know I did some dumb stuff in the past but like there is no reason for anyone to be threatening this {expletive} on me.”
Kellyann Kostyal-Larrier is the director of Fearless!, a nonprofit agency that helps families and children experiencing abuse. She works with dozens of child victims each year in cases like these who’ve been sexually abused or trafficked online. She says these recent cases are a reminder of how dangerous social media can be for children.
“These individuals have a keyboard and access to thousands of children across the United States who have phones and computers in their bedrooms,” says Kostyal-Larrier. “Children are being potentially exposed anytime they are on the internet.”
Youmans is charged with child pornography, sexual exploitation of children, and receipt and distribution of child pornography. Mansfield is charged with extorting sexually explicit material from a minor.
Kostyal-Larrier urges parents and guardians to talk with children to prevent similar instances of child sexual exploitation.
Click here for more information on the indictments:
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