A Maryland man was convicted this week for exploiting two Ohio teens by coercing them into taking pornographic photos. The defendant, Bernhard Jakits, 72, was found guilty Tuesday.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in December 2018, Jakits coerced a 15-year-old girl from Belmont County into creating explicit images and later attempted to coerce another 13-year-old girl in January 2019.
Jakits coerced the girls into sharing pornographic photos in exchange for money through the messaging app TextNow, authorities said.
Jakits met the teens through their mother, who he was paying for sexual acts via video calls, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
A federal grand jury indicted Jakits in January. A jury found him guilty after deliberating for less than an hour.
He faces 15-years-to-life in prison. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
