‘Prolific sextortionist’ accused of exploiting 150 underage girls in Georgia, feds say
A Cobb County, Georgia, man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for a “prolific” sextortion scheme involving as many as 150 underage girls, federal authorities announced Tuesday.
A jury found Benjamin Jenkins, 25, guilty of producing and distributing child pornography he coerced his victims to create for him, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. Jenkins is accused of forcing the girls to send sexually explicit images of themselves and threatening to expose them if they refused.
“Jenkins exploited as many as 150 girls for his perverse satisfaction, causing unbelievable trauma to these children and their families,” U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak said in a statement. “The sheer degradation and depravity that Jenkins forced his victims to endure is unimaginable.”
Jenkins will also be required to register as a sex offender once released from prison.
“This sentence will hopefully help these courageous victims and their families heal,” Pak said.
Federal prosecutors say Jenkins began contacting girls in 2015 using several different aliases. His victims were between the ages of 13 and 16, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Jenkins allegedly coerced the girls into sending him sexually suggestive photos and videos, then bullied them into sending more by claiming he would publish the images online or send them to the victims’ family and friends.
“Jenkins instructed the girls on what body parts to show, what poses to make and” what sex acts to perform, prosecutors said. “If a girl did not provide him with a photo or video quickly enough, he would start a countdown clock: the girl had a certain amount of time to provide him with an image before he started posting her other images online.”
Jenkins also forced them to watch him masturbate or send him videos of themselves drinking their own urine, according to federal authorities.
Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer called the sextortion scheme a “vicious cycle” the girls could not escape.
“No sentence will ever bring back the innocence that this monster stole from hundreds of girls,” Hammer said in a statement. “We will continue to go after these predators while educating our youth about the dangers of sextortion.”
This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 8:02 AM with the headline "‘Prolific sextortionist’ accused of exploiting 150 underage girls in Georgia, feds say."