Man Ran Child Pornography Ring From His Apartment By Soliciting Struggling Women For Lewd Photos Of Infants, Toddlers Via Facebook

A federal jury has convicted an Indiana registered sex offender on Monday for operating a child pornography ring from his family’s apartment, conspiring with multiple women to supply him with sexually explicit pictures of infants and young children in exchange for money.

Lorenzo Johnson, 33, of Hammond, has been convicted of three counts of conspiracy to produce child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to court documents.

The court found that he had utilized a fake Facebook account to identify and target at least three women in financial strife who have access to children, luring them with money to take photos depicting the sexual abuses of the minors known to the co-conspirators.

An FBI informant moved to communicate with Johnson after receiving a citizen complaint of someone posting images of naked children online. The offender would send the informant photos of naked children between October and December in 2019 while suggesting ways on how to make easy money by secretly photographing other naked children.

Authorities and agents raided Johnson’s apartment on Dec. 17, 2019, and found the man in question with a .40-caliber Taurus handgun.

In an interview with the FBI, Johnson confessed to soliciting the production of child pornography from other Facebook users as a means of blackmail. His co-conspirators have since been indicted for their roles in the production of child pornography.

In 2009, he was convicted in Illinois for aggravated sexual abuse involving a minor, a felony that registered him a sex offender for the rest of his life, the Times of Northwest Indiana noted.

“My office will not tolerate crimes against children, and we will continue to partner with federal, state, and local agencies to investigate and prosecute individuals whose criminal conduct harms and exploits such vulnerable victims,” Acting U.S. Attorney Tina L. Nommay for the Northern District of Indiana said.

“I wish to thank the attorneys with the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice for their invaluable assistance in this case.”

Assistant Director Calvin Shivers of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division has also vowed to use every resource in its power to thoroughly probe the matter and deliver justice to the vulnerable victims.

Johnson will front court for sentencing on Dec. 17, 2021, facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years and a maximum of 180 years, according to WTHR.

The FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood to clamp down on child sexual exploitation and abuse.