HAMMOND, Ind. — Lorenzo Johnson, 33, of Hammond, will spend 50 years in prison for conspiring on Facebook with multiple women to send him sexually explicit pictures of infants and young children.
A federal jury convicted Johnson in August of using a fake Facebook account to identify women who were having financial difficulties and had access to children. He would then offer the women money to take sexually explicit photos.
“Lorenzo Johnson’s criminal conduct merits the lengthy sentence that the judge imposed today,” said U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana. “Manipulating vulnerable women into producing pornographic images of voiceless children is despicable criminal behavior. I want to thank all our law enforcement partners for their hard work rendering justice in this case.”
Johnson, who is a registered sex offender, was convicted of three counts of conspiracy to produce child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“As the jury unanimously found, Lorenzo Johnson repeatedly persuaded vulnerable women to sexually exploit infants and young children,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s sentence sends a strong message that offenders who target vulnerable members of our society, and especially children, will be brought to justice.”
When Johnson is released, he will spend 15 years on probation.
