A New Jersey man arrested in a child sex abuse case has been sentenced to five years in prison, court records show, after officials say he sold videos of a teen girl using the site OnlyFans.
Ethan Diaz, 22, pleaded no contest to one count of child abuse, one count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device and one count of interference with child custody in the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida in September.
Diaz was also initially charged with human trafficking and more than a dozen counts of promoting sexual performance by a child. Those charges were dismissed under a plea agreement approved by a judge, court documents obtained by USA TODAY show.
Court documents show investigators with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said Diaz met the girl online in 2023 and enticed her into producing sexual content of herself to be sold on OnlyFans.
During sentencing, Judge R. Lee Smith ordered him to spend five years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised probation, online records show.
Diaz was given credit for more than a year of time served in jail since his May 2023 arrest. Conditions of probation ordered by the judge include no longer using OnlyFans and may not contact the victim who was 16 at the time of the crimes.
OnlyFans investigation:Reveals child sexual abuse cases on social media platform
Diaz flew to New Jersey to meet girl, was arrested at Airbnb
Over about a three month period in 2023, according to Reuters, Diaz posted dozens of sex videos and images of the girl on an OnlyFans account he controlled. “He also directed the girl to post sexually explicit material of herself on the account,” officials said.
In April that same year, police say, Diaz flew to Florida from New Jersey, picked up the girl from her home and was arrested at an Airbnb where prosecutors said he filmed a half-dozen videos with her, Reuters also reported. He was arrested before he could post them on OnlyFans.
McDonald’s latest suit:First lawsuit filed against McDonald’s over E. coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounders
Complaints city adults having sex with toddlers on site
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.”
Contributing: Reuters
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
