Brooklyn Man Pleads Guilty To Producing Child Pornography

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that DAVID SHALAM pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn to a Superseding Information charging him with the production of child pornography.  U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein will impose sentencing.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “David Shalam paid a woman to perform sex acts via internet video, eventually further urging her to engage in acts of sexual molestation of her own minor children of six and eight years old.  Depraved acts such as this can have profoundly damaging effects on victims, the aftermath often leading to years of suffering psychological torment and anguish.  Today’s plea holds David Shalam accountable for these reprehensible acts.”

According to the allegations in the Superseding Information, and the Complaint filed on March 9, 2017:

Between April and December 2015, SHALAM paid a woman in Romania (referred to in the Complaint as “Jane Doe”) to participate in a series of live video chats over Skype, during which SHALAM directed  Jane Doe to engage in specific sexually explicit conduct with her minor children, who at the time were approximately six and eight years old.  SHALAM referred to Jane Doe’s real time sexual abuse of her children as “shows,” at least one of which SHALAM recorded.

In conjunction with Romanian authorities, the FBI recovered logs of instant messages between SHALAM and Jane Doe over Skype, during which SHALAM and Jane Doe discussed the kinds of sex acts SHALAM wanted to see performed, when the children would be home from school so that the “shows” could take place, and the cost of each “show.” SHALAM wired payments to Jane Doe through a Western Union branch in midtown, Manhattan, a few blocks from the office where SHALAM worked for a retail clothing company.

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SHALAM, 51, of Brooklyn, New York, pled guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of minors, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years in prison, and a maximum sentence of thirty years in prison.  The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the FBI.

This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alison Moe and Mollie Bracewell are in charge of the prosecution.