NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Virginia Beach man pleaded guilty Wednesday to production and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
Court documents confirmed that from at least 2020 through March 2023, 24-year-old Thomas Cervantes used social media platforms to manipulate his victims. Cervantes was found to have shared a video on social media of himself assaulting a minor. In another instance, he offered money to a minor to try and convince her to send a sexually explicit video of herself. When she was reluctant, he threatened to send the images of her to her family members if she refused. Cervantes enticed and coerced a number of additional minors.
Cervantes pleaded guilty to production and distribution of child sexual abuse material. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 25, 2024, and faces a minimum of 15 and maximum of 50 years in prison.
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