Tri-States are guilty of showing several minor girls online

Middletown, Ohio (WKRC)-A man from Middletown faces a potential 26-year-old prison sentence after he has guilty to have addressed underage girls online.

The 53-year-old William Elam posed as a 14-year-old boy and, according to prosecutors, held online talks with girls with girls aged 10 years to send illegal pictures and videos.

The retired FBI special agent Harry Trombitas, who examined crimes against children for almost 30 years, described the crime as “terrible crime”. He also said that it is a crime that uses our most endangered statements.

“I wish it was just a few of these boys. But unfortunately there are many of them out there,” said Trombitas.

For four years, Elam built online relationships with at least 10 young girls and tried to maintain nude pictures and videos. He would then blackmail them to send more by threatening to post what they had already sent. In one case, Elam forced a victim by threatening to harm himself.

“These boys are very good in what they are doing,” said Trombitas. “They are foster homes. They are ready to take the time. They meet the children online, start all innocent and everything, and then it just goes down and goes downhill.”

Stephen Smith from the “A Kabel family” group travels through the country and trains children and parents through online security.

“Unfortunately, this is only one of so many cases that nobody knows about anything because the majority of the children do not report when these things happen,” said Smith.

Smith uses Elam's case as an example in his presentations and emphasizes the importance of the participation of the parents.

“In all the presentations that we have in Ohio or Florida, wherever we are last year, I used this case as an example when I speak to children that they don't know who they are actually talking to when they are online,” said Smith.

Smith advises parents to set clear guidelines and to control app downloads on their children's equipment.

“Only you should be able to download these apps to the device,” said Smith.

Elam is currently being held in the Butler County prison, with a conviction date being determined.