New York, March 3 An Indian-American man has pleaded guilty to federal charges of sex-related crimes, and admitted he was a part of 30 online communities, which traded sexually-explicit images of minors, a media report said.
Mayank M Patel, 27, of Lexington pleaded guilty in US Eastern District Court to one count of producing visual depictions involving a minor engaged in sexually-explicit conduct and one count of distributing and producing visual depictions, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
Members of the Electronic Crime Branch with Kentucky State Police went to Patel's home on January 23, 2023 after they suspected him of distributing and possessing explicit material.
According to court documents, Patel's phone number was found on dozens of online communities tied to child sex abuse.
After searching his iPhone and Apple MacBook, officers found videos and photos depicting obscene material involving young children, according to court documents. All the images were produced using his cell phone.
The court was told that Patel created explicit images and videos with a victim who was seven years old at the time. Patel was a member of 30 private communities and at least one private group for at least three months, and a member of other private groups for an unknown length of time, according to the Herald-Leader.
For his conduct, Patel faces a maximum of 50 years in prison, $500,000 in fines and supervised release between 10 years and life.
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