Man Who Extorted Minors To Produce Child Pornography Sentenced

ATLANTA - Tremain Hutchinson, who coerced minors to produce child pornography, has been sentenced to life in prison.

“This sexual predator used the anonymity of the internet to prey on young girls – mentally, physically, and emotionally violating them,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “His crimes certainly warrant the prison sentence he received, and the stiff sentence will protect our children from this vicious predator.”

“The exploitation of children is one of the most heinous crimes we investigate,” said Brock Nicholson, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta, which oversees all of Georgia and the Carolinas. “This case was especially egregious due to the offenses committed and the number of juvenile victims. Let this sentence be a warning to individuals who prey on innocent children – we will find you, arrest you and ensure you are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: Beginning in or about November 2011, Hutchinson, who was 26 at the time, used a social media site called Tagged.com to contact the victims, young girls ranging from 11 to 16 years old.  Hutchinson by-passed the safety features of website by posing as a 15 to 18 year-old teenager.  When he made contact with the girls he targeted, he immediately asked the victims to send him nude photos of themselves.  After the victims sent the initial photographs, Hutchinson then demanded more sexually graphic images.  Typically, the girls refused, and Hutchinson would verbally abuse and threaten them.  The threats included Hutchinson saying that he would find out where they lived and harm them or their families, or saying that he would upload the girls’ earlier, nude photos to their schools' websites or to social media sites like Facebook.

The investigation began when DeKalb County Police learned that someone with an account on Tagged.com had forced a teenage girl to molest her younger brother and to send him images of the molestation.   DeKalb County Police identified Hutchinson during the course of their investigation and obtained a subpoena for records of his Tagged.com account.  A search of Hutchinson’s computer and cell phone revealed hundreds of images of young girls in various stages of nudity and engaged in sexual conduct.

Hutchinson admitted in court that he had raped two of the girls he contacted on Tagged.com.  In one instance, Hutchinson contacted a girl using Tagged.com and enticed her to send him nude photos of herself.  He then threatened her until she sent him several videos depicting her engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  Hutchinson continued to demand that the victim send him more videos and pictures and threatened to kill her and her family if she did not comply.  He also threatened to post the photos she had previously sent on the internet.   In February 2012, Hutchinson went to the victim’s home and raped her.   He also raped a 13 year-old he met on Tagged.com.

Then, again posing as a teenage boy, Hutchinson contacted an 11 year-old girl on Tagged.com.  The victim refused to send nude images of herself to him.  Two years later, Hutchinson contacted the victim again and coerced her into sending him various nude images.  When she refused to send additional pictures, Hutchinson threatened to post naked pictures of other girls using the victim's name and phone number on the internet.  He told her that people would think it was her in the photos.  Hutchinson also sent the same victim a photograph of his genitals and tried to meet the victim in person to have sex with her. 

Hutchinson, 28, of Mableton, GA, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Timothy Batten to life in prison.  Hutchinson was convicted of these charges on October 10, 2013, after he pleaded guilty.  He will be required to register as a sex offender if he is released from prison.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the DeKalb County Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Yonette Buchanan and Leslie J. Abrams prosecuted the case.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.