Aussie kids among hundreds targeted by vile US sextortionist

Australian children are among more than 100 victims of a sexual predator in the United States who used popular apps to coerce girls as young as five to send him explicit photos and videos.

Australian children are among more than 100 victims of a depraved sexual predator in the United States who used popular apps like Roblox, Snapchat and Instagram to coerce girls as young as five to send him explicit photos and videos.

Chase William Mulligan, 28, is facing up to 60 years in prison after the FBI uncovered his sickening worldwide sextortion plot in which he befriended children in chatrooms before enticing them to send him sexual images that he used to control them, threatening to come to their home and publish the content online if they did not comply with his orders.

Over more than four years, he targeted at least 108 children aged between five and 17 across multiple countries including Australia, Canada, the United States, the Philippines, Denmark, Spain and the United Kingdom.

FBI Baltimore Special Agent William DelBagno described Mulligan as a “depraved and dangerous predator”.

“He used social media to target, viciously threaten, and horribly abuse more than 100 minor victims - one as young as five years old,” he said.

“His abhorrent behaviour is not diminished by the fact he was thousands of miles away and never met his victims, rather, it’s the opposite.

“Despite his distance, he presents a serious threat to any child he can access through the internet.”

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi (L) and Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Kash Patel (R) speak during a press conference to announce the results of Operation Restore Justice, which targets child sex offenders. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

In one instance Mulligan targeted a 12-year-old girl on Snapchat and threatened to come to her house if she did not send him naked videos and pictures every day for weeks, including forcing her to engage in acts of bestiality with the family dog.

When the girl’s friend, also 12, tried to intervene, Mulligan threatened her, coercing the girl to participate in an explicit video calls with her five-year-old sister.

The older sister tried to fight back against Mulligan’s directions, telling him “she’s only five” and asked if she complied, would they be done “forever”.

He replied “Forever, no. Today, yes.”

When police raided Mulligan’s Maryland home, they discovered 18 devices containing 15,000 child abuse videos and pictures, including at least 1000 he had created himself with the victims he found online.

Investigators found 29 videos of one 11-year-old victim recorded through the messaging service Discord complying with Mulligan’s instructions of sexual acts to perform for him.

She denied his request to record a video of her four-year-old sister and when she tried to sever ties, he contacted her on Skype writing “add me back on Discord or I’ll post all your vids online and in servers. I have everything saved … listen OK.”

Mulligan has pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child sexual abuse material and will be sentenced in a federal court in August.