Cleveland, Ohio Man Charged with Producing Files Depicting the Sexual Victimization of Children and Extorting 11-Year-Old Female to Send Sexually Explicit Depictions

 NEW ORLEANS –  U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that JAVAN BAILEY, age 19, a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, was charged on August 13, 2021 by a federal grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of Louisiana in a two-count Indictment with producing images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of an eleven-year-old female, Victim 1, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 2251(a), and transmitting interstate threats for the purpose of extorting a thing of value, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 875(d).  Specifically, BAILEY is alleged to have extorted Victim 1 into sending him additional sexually explicit depictions by threatening to “expose” Victim 1 by sending prior depictions of Victim 1 to her family members. 

BAILEY faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of fifteen (15) years and a maximum term of imprisonment of thirty-two (32) years.  BAILEY also faces up to a lifetime of supervised release and $250,000 fine.  He must also pay a mandatory special assessment cost of $100 for each count.  BAILEY can be required to register as a sex offender.

U. S. Attorney Evans reiterated that an indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys= Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter.  Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg is in charge of the prosecution.