Federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations say a North Lauderdale man “met” the San Francisco teen in September using an anonymous online chatting site called Omegle.
They then began communicating on Skype, using the video-conferencing, online chat and instant messaging features of the free communications app.
When the girl’s father became suspicious and took her phone in November, he printed out “approximately 143 pages” of sexually explicit online chats between the two, which he turned over to San Francisco police and Homeland Security Investigations agents in South Florida and California.
On Monday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Marckenson Chery, who turns 29 this week, pleaded not guilty to one federal charge of enticement of a minor.
Agents said that Chery persuaded the alleged victim, who was not identified in court records, to use her smart phone to engage in video sex with him, urging her to masturbate, show him her naked body and watch him while he masturbated and ejaculated.
The girl told Chery — who she knew only as “Marcus,” and by his Skype name “Swag likeus Robinson” — that she was 15, and he told her that he was 21, she later told investigators. She said she reminded him how old she was several times during the two months that they communicated.
Chery’s lawyer, Joshua Fisher, said he did not want to comment on the allegations until he has an opportunity to review the evidence against his client. If convicted, Chery could face between 10 years and life in prison, and a $250,000 fine.
Though Skype and Omegle — which uses the promotional line “Talk to Strangers!” — were the apps used in this case, Joe Trias, the deputy special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in South Florida, said that criminals can use any number of similar apps to make inappropriate contact with children and teens.
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