FBI: Men lured girls into online chat ‘sextortion’ scheme Shoreline man, 28, among those arrested in long-running child pornography operation utilizing online chat room

Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP / Getty Images A Shoreline man alleged to have been part of a group of sexual...

A Shoreline man alleged to have been part of a group of sexual predators who lured girls into exposing themselves in online chats now faces child pornography charges.

Michael Berenson was arrested Wednesday as part of an long-running FBI operation targeting a purported “sextortion” ring.

Investigators claim Berenson, 28, admitted to blackmailing girls he and his associates had duped into making sexually explicit videos. Berenson’s price, according to investigators, was more child pornography for his terabyte-size collection.

“The defendant confessed to threatening and exploiting minors into engaging in self-exploitation and then recording (or) producing child pornography videos of the acts,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Cecelia Gregson said in charging papers. “Without a doubt the defendant has evidenced the threat he poses to community safety, most specifically minor children.”

According to charging papers, FBI agents arrested a member of a ring in November 2015 during a child pornography investigation. That man told agents he was part of a group that used a private video chat website to sexually exploit girls.

The man said members of the group took on discrete roles in the scheme, an FBI special agent said in court papers. Their shared goal was to get girls to expose themselves on camera in the video chats.

Some sought out girls on social media networks, while others talked them into accessing the private chat room. Some men in the group contributed to the scheme by playing recordings of other children who had been “dared” to disrobe on camera, to convince victims they were interacting with other kids. Still others acted as security, hoping to keep undercover police out.

After the 2015 arrest, agents infiltrated the chats and set about identifying other members of the group. Berenson was initially identified by his screenname, the agent said in court papers, and his accounts were traced to the Seattle area.

Investigators claim Berenson was caught offering up videos on Skype of three girls masturbating on camera. Another man involved in the scheme is alleged to have described Berenson as a pedophile who previously “sextorted” girls, threatening to release sexually explicit videos of the chats if they didn’t provide him with more child pornography.

“His sexual preference was for ‘the younger the better’ and he loved to show his real face to kids,” the FBI agent said in court papers.

At some point Berenson was “doxed” by hackers who released his personal identifying information.

In August, a young woman told authorities Berenson was among the men who contacted her after she engaged in a sexually explicit chat on the site, the FBI agent said in court papers. She learned his name and location from the hacker organization that “doxed” Berenson.

Investigators traced Berenson’s chat accounts to a Shoreline house belonging to his parents. Berenson appears to have bene living at the home.

Having obtained a search warrant in state court, FBI agents and members of a Seattle Police Department unit that investigates online crimes against children went to the home on Wednesday. Berenson was arrested in his bedroom and interviewed by investigators.

According to charging papers, Berenson said he had been engaging in sexually explicit chats with girls since he was 20. Investigators claim he admitted to blackmailing his victims into sending him additional photos and videos.

“Michael Berenson stated he would threaten the victims by telling them he was going to show the videos to their parents if they did not perform sexual acts he was requesting of them,” the FBI agent said in court papers. “Michael stated he would use the sexually explicit files he captured to trade, distribute and masturbate.”

Berenson told investigators he had a terabyte of child pornography on an encrypted hard drive, the agent continued. Investigators claim to have recovered a sexually explicit video of a 10- to 13-year-old girl.

Berenson has been charged in King County Superior Court with possession of child pornography. He has not yet entered an initial plea.

Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.