OAKLAND -- A Fremont man is facing a maximum of 30 years inprison after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography andattempting to extort child pornography images of an underage girlthrough a social networking website, the U.S. Department of Justicesaid.
James Dale Brown, 27, admitted Wednesday to U.S. District CourtJudge Phyllis Hamilton that, from December 2008 to April 2009, herepeatedly contacted a girl he knew to be 14 years old via herFacebook page.
Using an alias username, "Bob Lewis," Brown obtained a revealingphoto of the girl and then contacted her, telling the teen that hewould delete all the pictures of her on the Internet, but only ifshe sent him a sexually explicit video of herself, according tocourt documents.
He also threatened the girl, saying he would send explicit photosof her to her friends, who were minors, authorities said.
Brown, arrested last August, is scheduled to be sentenced May 11.
The maximum penalties for Brown's two felony convictions total 30years in prison and $500,000 in fines -- 10 years and $250,000 forchild pornography possession, and 20 years and $250,000 forattempted extortion.
This was the first case prosecuted in the Northern District ofCalifornia involving the attempted extortion of a minor for childpornography through a social networking website, authorities said.
Brown was the second Alameda County man this week facing federalconvictions in connection with child pornography and socialnetworking.
Stephen Sims, 57, of San Leandro, was sentenced Monday to 17years in prison by a judge in Pittsburgh, Pa., for leading a socialnetworking site where members hailing from several foreign countriesshared child pornography with each other, according to TheAssociated Press.
Contact Chris De Benedetti at 510-353-7011. Follow him atTwitter.com/cdebenedetti.
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