LOS ANGELES
The FBI arrested a Ventura County man for using Skype to pay facilitators overseas to live stream the sexual and physical abuse of female minors, officials stated.
William Hayes, 57, of Newbury Park, whose online aliases include “ko hong,” “hokong69,” and “brianwilson2461,” is charged with one count of attempted production of child pornography, two counts of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, and two counts of possession of child pornography.
If convicted of all charges, Hayes is facing up to 15 years in prison, officials stated.
According to the indictment, from April 2017 to August 2019, Hayes used Skype to attempt to entice underage girls to engage in illicit sexual activity that would be live-streamed on the internet for him to watch. Hayes allegedly offered to pay money after the acts were live-streamed.
In other messages, he offered to pay to have acts of torture and cruelty inflicted on the minors, the indictment alleges.
Hayes also allegedly possessed images of child pornography – depicting prepubescent minors – on his personal computer and a hard drive.
Hayes is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.