The FBI announced on Saturday that a man from Selmar was sentenced to federal prison for multiple violent sexual crimes against minors and possess more than 115,000 sexual abuse files (CSAM) for at least 207 real children, including infants and young children.
The condemnation, which was determined as Edwin Bernard, 79, was sentenced to Thursday after he acknowledged that he was guilty of four charges of exploiting children, including the possession, distribution and production of children’s pornography, as well as coercion and ludiation of a minor to participate in sex.
Bernard sought to obtain young children online from at least years to 2009 to 2014, according to the Federal Investigation Office, and will return and involve them romantically and sex.
“By at least 2009, Bernard worked as a supervisor under the names of users” Netzoamer “and” Netzoamer16 “on web sites where men seek to sexually engage with young children,” FBI released. “Through this regard, Bernard met a 14 -year -old victim and ordered the victim to perform sex acts, including cutting to the point of bleeding, which Bernard recorded on at least two occasions without the victim’s permission or knowledge.”
In addition to other sexual crimes online communications, in 2014, Bernard flew from California to another state where one of his resident victims was residing and rented a hotel room where the 16 -year -old took. Bernard said: “After the victim’s instructions to dislocate inflammation, Bernard raped him,” Bernard said.
According to the statement, Bernard also encouraged others to engage in sexual assault on children – one of them, Michael Rashir, was arrested and sentenced to New York in 2019 to produce CSAM and participate in sex with a minor.
When the FBI searched Bernard’s house on December 9, 2015, they found more than 115,000 files containing CSAM suspected via Bernard devices.
“The NCMEC National Center has identified at least 207 real children filmed in the photos and videos owned by the defendant,” stated in the statement. “There were many videos and pictures depicting infants and young children, as well as the Maswish sexual behavior that includes children under 12 years of age. Based on the analysis of descriptive data, Bernard was collecting CSAM files for more than a decade.”
The FBI believes that Bernard may have additional victims that have not yet been identified, and urges anyone believed to have been a victim or have information about a victim to contact them on 1-800-Call-FBI.