A Downey man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a federal charge alleging he coerced underage girls to create and send him sexually explicit videos that sometimes involved self-harm.
Bryant Najera Gonzalez, 24, entered his plea in Los Angeles federal court to a single count of production of child pornography in a case prosecutors described as “every parent’s nightmare.”
Trial was tentatively set for April 27.
According to court papers, Gonzalez induced minor girls, including children aged 11 and 15, to create and send him child sexual abuse material that he shared with others via the internet.
As part of his alleged online activity from April to June last year, Gonzalez discussed extorting his victims by, among other things, threatening to send the sexually explicit images to the girls’ families, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Law enforcement believes Gonzalez is associated with nihilistic violent extremist ideology such as “764,” a group prosecutors contend seeks to exploit vulnerable people and bring about society’s collapse “by sowing indiscriminate chaos, destruction, and social instability.”
In one alleged instance, at Gonzalez’s urging, a 15-year-old girl produced and sent to him at least four sexually explicit images of herself and videos in which she engaged in self-harm and self-humiliation, federal prosecutors said.
“The complaint affidavit outlines disturbing behavior that is every parent’s nightmare,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement last month. “To the individuals targeting children with sick acts as part of a twisted ideology, you’ve been warned: Your future is a lengthy federal prison sentence.”
If convicted, Gonzalez would face a prison sentence of between 15 and 30 years in federal prison, prosecutors noted.
“Nihilistic violent extremism targeting children is on the rise domestically and internationally,” said Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles bureau.
“The arrest of Mr. Gonzalez … in our backyard is just the latest example of the growing nature of this perverse activity that encourages children toward sexual compromise and self-mutilation, then further victimizes them with extortion demands.”