Mableton man sentenced to 40 years on child porn charges
♦ U.S. attorney says as many as 150 girls were exploited online.
A Mableton man was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years behind bars after a federal jury found him guilty of producing and distributing child pornography that he coerced more than 100 young girls to create.
Benjamin Jenkins, 25, of Mableton, was charged with nine counts of producing child pornography and three counts of distributing child pornography.
He was convicted of all of these charges by a federal jury on Jan. 16, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to U. S. Attorney Byung Pak, Jenkins used different identities to contact girls between the ages of 13 and 16, starting in 2015. He would persuade them to send a sexually suggestive photo of themselves. Once they did, Jenkins would coerce them into sending him more photos and videos by threatening to post the photos online or send them to their family and friends.
If a girl did not provide him with a photo or video quickly enough, the release states, Jenkins would start a countdown clock: the girl had a certain amount of time to provide him with an image before he started posting her other images online. He would tell the victims to perform degrading acts or watch him perform a sex act.
“Once a girl blocked Jenkins online, he would send her explicit photos to her parents and friends with demands that the girl resume communications with him,” the release states. “Jenkins also posted his victim’s nude photos and contact information online with messages for men to contact the girls directly for more photos or for sex.”
“Jenkins exploited as many as 150 girls for his perverse satisfaction, causing unbelievable trauma to these children and their families,” Pak said. “The sheer degradation and depravity that Jenkins forced his victims to endure is unimaginable. This sentence will hopefully help these courageous victims and their families heal.”
Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations operations in Georgia and Alabama, called Jenkins a monster, saying, “No sentence will ever bring back the innocence that this monster stole from hundreds of girls.”
These victims were trapped in a vicious cycle from which they could not escape. We will continue to go after these predators while educating our youth about the dangers of sextortion,” Hammer continued.
Upon his release, Jenkins will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.