Ethan Diaz, a 22-year-old from New Jersey, was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of child abuse, unlawful use of a communication device, and interference with child custody.
Diaz met a 16-year-old girl online in 2023 and convinced her to create explicit content for OnlyFans.
Over three months, he posted dozens of videos and images of the girl on an account he controlled. In April 2023, Diaz flew to Florida, picked up the girl, and filmed more videos at an Airbnb before being arrested.
Diaz is prohibited from using OnlyFans and contacting the victim.
According to the source:
Details on Diaz's case were included in a Reuters report published July, which separately documented dozens of disturbing complaints about child sex abuse material on the online site. The complaints referenced and cited hundreds explicit videos and images of children, including some adults having sex with toddlers.
An OnlyFans spokesperson released the following statement to USA TODAY Thursday:
"OnlyFans is proud of the work we do to aggressively target, report, and support the investigations and prosecutions of anyone who seeks to abuse our platform in this way. Unlike many other platforms, the lack of anonymity and absence of end-to-end encryption on OnlyFans means that reports are actionable by law enforcement and prosecutors."https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/10/24/onlyfans-abuse-sentence-ethan-diaz/75820201007/ (Oct. 24, 2024).
Commentary
According to Wikipedia.org, OnlyFans is a subscription-based content platform where creators can monetize their work by charging subscribers for access to their content.
It's popular among sex workers who produce adult content, but it also hosts a variety of other creators, including fitness trainers, musicians, and chefs. Users pay a monthly fee to access exclusive content, and creators earn money through subscriptions, tips, and pay-per-view features. The platform gained significant popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic and has millions of registered users and creators.
According to OnlyFans, it enforces a strict age limit of 18 years for both users and content creators. OnlyFans uses rigorous age verification processes to ensure that all content creators are of legal age.
In the above matter, the adult, Diaz, created an OnlyFans account and exhibited images of the victim. Prosecutors at first brought sexual trafficking charges against Diaz, but those charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
The final takeaway is that perpetrators of sexual abuse will often try to monetize their victims. For that reason, a red flag of sexual abuse or trafficking is a minor that has income from an unknown source. In this matter, it was from revenue from a third party via an online subscription service.
