A Virginia man who served as a senior attorney for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has pleaded guilty to persuading young girls to perform sexual acts on an Internet livestream and then secretly recording them.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Mark Black, 50, of Arlington, Virginia, was a member of two Internet groups specializing in child exploitation.
The goal of both groups was to find prepubescent girls online and persuade them to livestream what they considered sexually explicit acts, the Justice Department said, citing court documents.
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Mark Black, 50, of Arlington, Virginia. (Alexandria Sheriff's Office)
While the girls engaged in the act, Black and other members of the group secretly recorded the act and shared the videos with each other.
The acts took place between January 2018 and October 2021, according to court documents. Specifically, in July 2019, Black was screen recorded as a prepubescent minor performing sexually explicit acts on a streaming app.
Later that month, Black and an unnamed co-conspirator convinced another minor to perform sexually explicit acts on an application that allowed them to share photos and videos, the Justice Department said.
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Department of Justice, Washington, DC (St. Petersburg)
Reuters reported that an FDIC spokesperson said Black was suspended after the allegations surfaced, adding that his activities have no connection to the FDIC or its resources.
On Tuesday, Black pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce child pornography and coercion and enticement.
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Mark Black has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced in April. (St. Petersburg)
He is scheduled to be sentenced by a federal judge on April 30th.
The mandatory punishment is a minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.
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The FBI and the FDIC's Office of Inspector General investigated the case, which was brought as part of a national effort launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation.
Reuters contributed to this report.
