Sex offender allegedly used Snapchat to target Sacramento girls | Crime

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A registered sex offender in Sacramento is facing federal charges after allegedly using social media to exploit multiple underage girls.

Mickey O’Brien, 31, was arrested on July 29 and appeared in court on July 30 after a federal grand jury returned an indictment. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, he faces two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of minors, two counts of sexual exploitation of minors and one count of committing a sex offense while being required to register as a sex offender.

According to court documents, O’Brien used Snapchat to induce multiple underage girls as young as 11 to produce and send him sexually explicit depictions of themselves between 2022 and 2023. At the time of these alleged offenses, O’Brien was subject to a lifetime sex offender registration requirement in Sacramento County due to prior sex crimes he committed against minors.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with assistance from the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit of the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Stefanki is prosecuting the case.

If convicted of the counts of sexual exploitation of minors or attempted sexual exploitation of minors, O’Brien faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison as well as a $250,000 fine. If convicted of committing a sex offense while being a registered sex offender, O’Brien faces a mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison to be served consecutively with any other sentence.

The charges are only allegations. O’Brien is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.