SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Two men from the East Bay have been arrested on federal charges for allegedly stalking and sexually exploiting at least eight minors over social media platforms, authorities said.
Delaney Tang of Oakland and Vincenz Sison of Concord were arrested Tuesday and booked at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin following an investigation by San Francisco Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit.
Tang was charged with solicitation of child pornography and conspiracy to commit cyberstalking, while Sison was charged with conspiracy to commit cyberstalking, police said. They made their first court appearances on Wednesday.
Police said they launched their investigation after an official at a high school in San Francisco reported that several students were extorted for sexually explicit videos and pictures on social media.
During their investigation, police determined that Tang had created dozens of social media accounts on various platforms under false names and false profile photos, in some cases posing as a minor.
Police said Tang would ask victims for pictures and videos and if they refused, he was able to determine where the victims lived and threatened to harm them if they did not comply. He also allegedly obtained pictures from friends and acquaintances, making victims believe he had more compromising photos of them.
In some cases, Tang allegedly posted the victims’ sexually explicit videos, which were circulated at their schools, police said.
Sison was allegedly used by Tang to contact and harass some of the victims, police said.
“Some of the victims were harassed and tormented for months,” SFPD said in a statement.
Investigators said they have identified at least eight victims in the Bay Area, Northern California and Utah, who range in age from 11 to 14 years old.
Search warrants were served on Tang and Sison at their residences in late September. Investigators said they found devices that had images and videos of the identified victims, along with at least 13 others.
SFPD has released the social media usernames the suspects allegedly used in order to aid in the search for additional victims. The usernames are “thedrunkg1raffe”, “jimmynguyen0950”, “anthonytran800”, “bobbychao5150”, “davidnguyen850”, “kevin_luong5150”, “brianchao0150” and “delaneyytang”.
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim or have additional information is asked to contact the SFPD Special Victims Unit at 415-558-5500.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Tang was remanded into custody pending a detention hearing on November 10. Sison was released on a $75,000 bond and is expected in court for a preliminary hearing scheduled for December 7.
If convicted, Tang could face a sentence ranging from five to 20 years in prison on the child pornography charge. The cyberstalking charges against both Tang and Sison carry sentences of up to five years in prison.
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