CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The FBI said a Chicago man is in custody and has been charged with enticing four teenagers or pre-teenagers into producing child pornography. Investigators believe dozens of other minors are also victims.
With the arrest of 46-year-old Michael Ramos, the FBI has asked parents to talk to their children and if they are using Snapchat — and if so, to ask whom they are talking with.
Agents said Ramos had at least a dozen usernames on Snapchat.
“The number of usernames that we're seeing leads us to believe that there may be a lot of victims out there,” said Special Agent Siobhan Johnson. “Somewhere in the realm of 80 to 100, and that's really a conservative estimate.”
Johnson, of the Chicago office of the FBI, said Ramos’ usernames on Snapchat were those that a young girl might use.
“You'll see names like ‘young-goddess1’ or ‘lizziedu49,’” Johnson said. “Those are names that make you think you're dealing with a young girl.
“And that's, psychologically, very troublesome for a young person, to try to make a distinction when they look at that. When they think they're talking to a young girl, they're going to act markedly different than they would with a middle-aged man.”
Johnson said parents should make sure their children actually know everybody on their Snapchat lists.
“It’s not the friends you know, usually,” she said. “It’s the strangers that you might have added to buffer your numbers and get them really high.”
The agent also said she can understand how parents of children who have been victimized might be reluctant to come forward.
“Those are very real concerns as a parent,” Johnson said. “You have to worry about tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after — you want to make sure your child’s future is still bright. Right now, we’re worried about getting victims the services that they are owed, because we have victims specialists standing by to help assist our victims get the services they need.”
The FBI said Ramos pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.
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