Clinton Briggs Miller, 26, of Rome, Ga., has been arraigned on federal charges of enticing minors to produce child pornography, by allegedly blackmailing them to send him sexually explicit images of themselves. Miller was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 19.
“Enticing, tricking, and intimidating children into taking sexually explicit photographs of themselves with their cell phones is as repulsive as it is illegal,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn. “This case illustrates the dangers faced by minors who send racy photos of themselves on phones or over social media.”
“As we have seen in countless other cases, child predators will exploit any technology they can to feed their perverse appetites,” said special agent in charge Nick S. Annan, ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Atlanta. “I strongly encourage parents to educate themselves on how to protect their children from these predators by entering the keyword ‘iGuardian’ in the search box at www.ice.gov.”
According to U.S. Attorney Horn, the charges, and other information presented in court. In July, Miller allegedly exchanged text messages with two minor females, one in California and one in Georgia. He befriended them, persuaded them to send him explicit photographs of themselves, and then threatened to post those photographs on social media websites unless they continued to send him increasingly explicit photographs.
Miller was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Walter E. Johnson.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Rome, Georgia, Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William G. Traynor is prosecuting the case.
This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February, 2006, the attorney general launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia ishttp://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.