Child Porn Video Shared On Facebook Messenger Nets Alabama Arrest

MILLBROOK, AL — A pornographic video depicting a young girl believed to be about 6 and an adult man that was circulated via Facebook Messenger led authorities to a suspect now facing multiple charges in Alabama and Michigan. The video reached thousands of social media users, including some as far away as France, before Facebook blocked it under policies intended to stop the spread of pornography across the platform.

Authorities said those circulating the video meant well, for the most part, and shared it to locate the perpetrator and victim, but authorities in several states warned they could face criminal charges. At least one person has been charged with possession and dissemination of child pornography.

Advised the video was widely shared across its platform, Facebook attempted damage control and added the video to its PhotoDNA bank to prevent additional sharing.

“We are aware of this issue,” a Facebook spokesperson told BuzzFeed News this week. “We reported the video to the appropriate authorities, and we have used PhotoDNA technology to automatically prevent future uploads and shares. Sharing any kind of child exploitative imagery using Facebook or Messenger is not acceptable — even to express outrage. We are and will continue to be aggressive in preventing and removing such content from our community.”

The man depicted in the video, Germaine Moore, turned himself in to police in Millbrook, Alabama, Tuesday morning, and the victim has been located and is safe, the Montgomery Advertiser reported. Moore faces felony charges, including first-degree criminal sexual conduct and distribution of a video depicting the assault, Central Alabama CrimeStoppers said in a news release.

Authorities said Moore’s wife, Tonya Moore, was arrested on charges of hindering prosecution after she refused to cooperate in the investigation, WHNT-TV reported.

A third person in Alabama was arrested by Montgomery police and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. Jerrell Washington wasn’t involved in production of the video, but faces charges of possession and dissemination of child pornography, the TV station said.

Moore people could be similarly charged.

“If you saved it, if you posted it to your page, if you sent it to someone else… you’re disseminating child porn, and that’s a felony,” Tim Gann, an attorney in Alabama, told WHNT. “If you are in possession of (the video), no matter your good intentions, that is also a felony.”

Though the video has been blocked, all of the damage can’t be undone. The Newberry County, South Carolina, sheriff’s office said in a news release that “every time this video is shared and viewed, the victim is exposed to more shame and victimization.”

“You not only create a viral video but a viral victim,” the statement continued. “Additionally, while this is done in ‘an attempt to locate the perpetrator,’ you are still possessing and disseminating child pornography and it is illegal to possess and disseminate any images or videos that depict a juvenile child engaged in sexual activity.”

Germaine Moore also has been charged with criminal sexual conduct charges in Wayne County, Michigan, where authorities accuse him of sexually assaulting three young relatives over several years. The county prosecutor, Kym Worthy, said Moore is expected to be extradited to Michigan on first-degree criminal sexual conduct, child sexually abusive activity and other charges for sexual assaults alleged to have taken place in Detroit from 2011 until last year while the girls' mother was working. Moore is their parental uncle, Worthy said.

It’s unclear if Moore will be extradited before he goes to trial on the Alabama charges. It depends largely on which state has the strongest case against him, authorities said.

Lt. Brooke Walter, commander of Alabama’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, told CNN investigators are trying to determine and where the video was recorded, but think it was originally shared on Facebook Messenger from Alabama. The unit worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Facebook to develop leads that tied the video to the Montgomery area.

"These are the kind of cases — where a six-year-old child is being forced to engage in sexual activity — that gives all of us as parents nightmares," Elmore County, Alabama, District Attorney Randall V. Houston, told reporters.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said police were aware the video was being circulated but initially were “unaware that the actual suspect” had a connection to Detroit, The Associated Press reported.

"In my years of experience in dealing with these types of cases, even though we're looking at these three victims, I believe that we will probably find that there are additional victims," Craig said. "We are asking the public that if they recognize this individual and if there's been any contact to please let us know."

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

Detroit Police Department photo via AP