CINCINNATI, Ohio — A Middletown man has admitted to pretending to be a 14-year-old boy while chatting with young girls online, then coercing them into sending him sexually-explicit images and videos.
William Scott Elam, 53, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to 10 counts of coercion and enticement and one count of sexual exploitation of children, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio. The plea agreement includes a recommended sentence of 26 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Elam used various online chatting apps to communicate with girls between the ages of 10 and 16 years old. While pretending to be a teen boy, he convinced the girls to send him sexually explicit images and videos.
Prosecutors say he manipulated at least one girl by threatening to harm himself if she did not do as he asked. He also convinced another victim to cut herself on live video after learning she had a history of self-harm. He also threatened to leak naked images of victims if they did not send him sexual material.
Elam had online relationships with several victims in at least seven states for four years, prosecutors say. Investigators have identified at least 10 victims.
