Delco Man Who Tricked Boys Into Sending Nude Photos Sentenced

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — A Delaware County man was hit with a prison time, probation, and sex offender registration sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to child pornography charges, according to authorities.

Today District Attorney Katayoun Copeland announced that Derrick Jones, 20, of Darby and a former Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School student, was sentenced to six to 12 years in prison, as well as 10 years of probation and 25 years Megan’s Law Registration.

Jones was arrested and charged in May 2017 following an investigation that revealed the defendant created a fictitious female persona by the name of "Haley" to lure and communicate with numerous male minors for the purpose of inducing them to manufacture child pornography for his own sexual gratification.

Additionally, the investigation uncovered that Derrick Jones blackmailed the victims into sending more photographs by threatening to reveal their identity and the photos to friends and loved ones.

An investigation was launched in September 2016 after information was received from male minor victim who reported that a person using social media and various texting applications was extorting them to produce and send nude images and video of themselves.

Investigation revealed that several victims were targeted in this manner; each minor victim reported that prior to being extorted, they were led to believe they were communicating with a female named "Haley" who was actually the defendant, Derrick Jones.

Posing as a juvenile woman, the defendant sent the victims nude images of herself through social media sites such as Instagram, Kik, and Snapchat, and upon request, the male minor victims sent nude images and/or videos of themselves.

As the result of a forensic investigation and interviews with the five minor victims, Derrick Jones was identified as the perpetrator.

During the execution of a search warrant at the defendant’s home in November 2016, he admitted to authorities that he created the fake persona of "Haley" and obtained nude images and videos of a teenage girl from Tumblr to create this persona.

He admitted that he did this so that he could talk to boys at school and get them to send him nude photos for his own sexual gratification. He also admitted that he knew that "some" of the images and videos he solicited from each of the victims constituted child pornography.

In furtherance of this scheme, he used "Haley's" images to create fake accounts on social media.

When the victims would send him sexually explicit images, the defendant created folders to store their naked images and videos, and organized them by the name of each victim.

Authorities obtained various electronics including the defendant’s cell phone and a forensic examination of the devices uncovered hundreds of nude photographs and videos organized in alphabetical order by the victims’ names.

Image via Delaware County District Attorney's Office