OnlyFans user pleads guilty in child pornography case

Author: Linda So

October 8 – A New York man who posted a sexually explicit video of a 16-year-old girl on the adult-only website OnlyFans pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of distributing child pornography.

Matthew Richardson, 36, faces 5 to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on December 19. The settlement was reached in August.

Richardson’s attorney and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment until the verdict was announced.

Richardson’s case was cited in a July Reuters investigation following complaints made to police over the posting of child sexual abuse material on OnlyFans.

Richardson was arrested at a highway rest stop in Ohio in December 2022 after fleeing with a New York teenager. They met at a grocery store and began a sexual relationship. Shortly thereafter, Richardson recorded himself having sex with the girl. According to documents filed in the case, on November 9, 2022, he posted a video of child sexual abuse on his OnlyFans account under the pseudonym Skylar Ravenwood.

“It was a nightmare,” a relative of the girl told Reuters, who is withholding her name to protect the teenager’s identity. “Still doesn’t feel good.”

A Reuters investigation found 30 complaints in US police and court files indicating that child sexual abuse material appeared on OnlyFans between December 2019 and June 2024. The investigation cited more than 200 videos and photos showing children on the site, including some adults engaging in oral sex with children. small children.

OnlyFans has not commented on Richardson’s case. His OnlyFans account remained available on the platform for more than a year and a half after posting a video showing sex with minors. By mid-June, the video of the girl appeared to have been deleted. The account was closed after Reuters asked OnlyFans about the matter.

OnlyFans says children are not allowed on its website and reviews all content and quickly removes and reports any child sexual abuse material. The company also says it can deactivate accounts that violate its policies.

This article was generated from an automated feed from a news agency, without any modifications to the text.