MONTGOMERY, Ala. – An Alabama man who was accused of posing online as pop star Justin Bieber while urging young girls to send him explicit photos of themselves pleaded guilty Thursday to producing child pornography, authorities announced.
Christopher Patrick Gunn, 31, of Montgomery, promised young girls free tickets and backstage passes to a Bieber concert if they would agree to send him inappropriate photos or webcam transmission of themselves, authorities said.
A statement released Thursday by U.S. Attorney George L. Beck in Montgomery said Gunn used chat rooms and other social media outlets to threaten hundreds of girls ages 9 to 16 throughout the United States and abroad over a period of more than two years as part of a far-ranging “online sextortion scheme” that included posing as Bieber and other ruses.
“These child predators irreparably damage the children they victimize,” Beck said in the news release. “The scope of this defendant’s exploitation of children is staggering; he not only preyed upon children in our community, but in communities across the United States.”
Beck’s statement said Gunn’s plea included two counts of making child pornography, 15 counts of interstate extortion and seven counts of internet stalking.