A New Jersey man is accused of using the popular social media app TikTok to solicit nude photos of underage girls.
The investigation began on April 20, when detectives in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, were contacted by a father of two girls, ages 11 and 12. Investigators say the girls had been solicited through TikTok direct messages and then through text messages to send naked images back to an unidentified man.
The girls, who live in Montgomery County, received the messages between April 17 and April 20. One of the girls then told their father she had sent a naked picture of herself to the man. The girls then received texts from another phone number claiming to be the man’s 14-year-old sister. Both girls were sent naked photos and were once again solicited to provide nude photos of themselves.
Investigators traced the phone number from the texter to Ad Hoc Labs, a company that provides burner phones for online ads, traveling, business projects and dating profiles.
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Detectives served a subpoena and obtained user information from Ad Hoc Labs. They then traced the phone number and IP address to a man who lived in Andover, New Jersey. After a warrant was served at the home, the man’s son, 26-year-old Ryan Corcoran, confirmed with detectives that the cellphone number was his, according to investigators.
Investigators said they found the text messages and nude image of one of the girls on Corcoran’s phone.
“This defendant was reaching out to random young girls on a social media platform and soliciting them to take photos of themselves in sexually explicit poses, clearly creating child pornographic images,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said. “This is another example that there are predators out there on the internet trying to take advantage of young innocent children. Parents need to be ever-vigilant to protect their children from these predators.”
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Corcoran was arrested and charged with child pornography, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors and criminal use of a communications facility. He was arraigned on June 13 with bail set at $50,000 cash while being prohibited from using the Internet and contacting minors. He was released after posting bail and scheduled for a preliminary hearing on June 27.
