McHenry County child among dozens of victims prepared to commit child pornography by a man from California

Sheriff County Sheriff’s Police in California have arrested 24-year-old Demetrius Carl Davis on charges of sexual misconduct. | Photo provided

A California man has been charged after police say he prepared and received child pornography from more than 100 children on social media, including a child victim from McHenry County.

The Working Group on Internet Crimes against Children received advice from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on an online account that uploaded materials on sexual abuse of children on the Internet.

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Rod Grassman said in December investigators carried out a search warrant at the residence of 24-year-old Demetrius Carl Davis, a resident of Sacramento County, California.

Numerous screenshots stored on Davis’ digital devices depicting children engaged in sexual activity were found.

Grassman said Davis is suspected of generating a number of fake social media accounts posing as a female child named Lizzie.

He uses accounts to make friends and communicate with children on the Internet to prepare them.

After establishing a relationship with a child, Davis will direct them to produce child pornography and engage in sexual acts with other children, Grasman said.

More than 80 child victims have been positively identified in the United States, two of whom live in Illinois.

One of the victims is a 13-year-old child from Bull Valley, who is near Woodstock. The second victim in Illinois is a 6-year-old child from East Dubuque.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is assisting police in identifying victims residing abroad, Grasman said.

Davis is believed to have interacted with more than 100 children between the end of 2020 and December 2021.

“Please check your children’s electronic devices to see if there’s a way they’ve had internet contact with people you don’t know,” Grassman said.

Parents who believe that their child may have engaged in illegal communications or posted illegal content to a subject named Lizzie on social media should notify the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office at 916-874-3002 or email ICAC@SACSheriff.com.

Davis was detained on bail on charges of a felony.