Ventura County Man Sentenced For Cyber-Initiated Sex Crimes Against Two Young Girls
Tuesday March 19, 2024
Updated--The Ventura County man who admitted luring, extorting, and threatening young girls he met on the Internet into becoming victims of "cyber" and "in-person" sex crimes has been sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Now 21-years-old, Connor Kerns of Newbury Park was also ordered to register as a sex offender and pay restitution to his victims.
The authorities say the victims were female juveniles.
One was over 14-years old and the other was under 14.
The authorities say Kerns would make contact with them over the Internet and then use several tactics to exploit and extort them into sending nude photos.
He is then alleged to have posed as a hacker who threatened to release the photos to the public unless the victims sent more photos and ultimately met him in person.
Prosecutors say those "in-person" encounters are where he sexually assaulted the victims.
The investigation into Kerns crimes began in July of 2021 when patrol deputies in Ojai took a report regarding one victim.
Detectives say during their investigation they were alerted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of two separate "Cyber Tips" involving allegations that Kerns had contacted at least two other female juveniles under similar circumstances.
That led to the second victim.
