Taunton Man Coerces Kids to Send Sex Pics

BOSTON – A Taunton man used fake female identities online to coerce seven minors in six states to send him sexual photos of themselves, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In U.S. District Court on Friday, Joseph Debrum, 40, pleaded guilty to seven counts of coercion and enticement of a minor, six counts of sexual exploitation of children and two counts of distribution of child pornography.

U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for July 18.

Between May 2014 and March 2015, Debrum assumed fictitious online identities of either a 21-year-old woman or a 16-year-old woman to coerce and entice seven minor victims living in six states to engage in sexually explicit conduct.

Debrum enticed the victims to send him pictures of the secual conduct over the internet, or he viewed the acts live online while taking photos on his cell phone.

Debrum coerced the victims, whose ages ranged from 14 to 16-years-old, by threatening to expose the photos.

Debrum also disseminated some of the photos, which constitutes distribution of child pornography. He sent photos of one victim to that victim’s parent, as well as photos of a second victim to a third victim.

On April 2, 2015, Debrum was interviewed by law enforcement and admitted to assuming fictitious female identities while communicating online with the victims.

He also admitted to asking them to take nude pictures and, in some cases, to do specific sexual acts.