Teh One Who Knocks
11-02-2020, 01:20 PM
By Matt Gray | For NJ.com
https://i.imgur.com/CEzQzWzl.jpg
Authorities say a youth pastor posed as a girl online and blackmailed young boys into performing sex acts on themselves for his enjoyment.
Sean Higgins, 30, of Palmyra, is charged with 28 offenses, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
They say his six victims identified so far range in age from 12 to 15 and reside in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Alabama.
Higgins serves as youth pastor at Harbor Baptist Church in Hainesport and as a teacher at Harbor Baptist Academy, a private K-12 school with 75 students located at the same facility.
He is not currently charged with having physical contact with any of his victims and the charges do not involve members of the church congregation or the school, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Higgins allegedly adopted the persona of a teenage girl named Julie Miller and approached his victims over Snapchat and Instagram. He sent them photos of an unidentified nude female and convinced the boys to send images in return.
Once he had the compromising photos, he threatened to send them to the victim’s list of friends on their social media account unless they complied with his demands.
“When a boy would send a nude photo of himself, Higgins would instantly transform and warn the child, ‘I’ve got you,’ and threaten to circulate that photo if the child did not engage in additional sexual acts on camera for Higgins’s sick gratification,” Prosecutor Scott Coffina said in announcing the arrest. “The desperation of these young boys who were put in this position by this predator is truly heartbreaking.”
Higgins then recorded the sex acts he forced the boys to perform.
“According to the videos made by Higgins that were obtained during the investigation, victims would often beg Higgins to be allowed to stop engaging in sexual conduct, but Higgins would demand that they complete his instructions, or face the consequences of having the recordings he was making of the abuse be sent to their list of friends,” according to the prosecutor’s office.
The investigation began when a boy in Pennsylvania contacted Snapchat to report that he had sent nude photos to someone and was being threatened. A boy in Alabama reported his communications with Higgins to law enforcement.
Higgins was arrested at his home on Thursday after investigators forced their way inside when he refused to open the door. Search warrants were served at the church and his home and multiple electronic devices were seized, prosecutors said.
He was charged with six counts of manufacturing child sexual abuse material (first degree), one count of aggravated sexual assault (first degree), five counts of distribution of child sex abuse material (second degree), one count of sexual assault (second degree), six counts of possession of child sex abuse material (third degree), six counts of endangering the welfare of a child (third degree), and single fourth-degree counts of criminal sexual contact, obstruction and contempt.
Higgins was jailed pending a detention hearing.
Anyone who believes their child may have been a victim in a similar incident on social media involving a user named Julie Miller, Julia Miller or some variation of that name is asked to contact Burlington County authorities.
https://i.imgur.com/CEzQzWzl.jpg
Authorities say a youth pastor posed as a girl online and blackmailed young boys into performing sex acts on themselves for his enjoyment.
Sean Higgins, 30, of Palmyra, is charged with 28 offenses, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
They say his six victims identified so far range in age from 12 to 15 and reside in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Alabama.
Higgins serves as youth pastor at Harbor Baptist Church in Hainesport and as a teacher at Harbor Baptist Academy, a private K-12 school with 75 students located at the same facility.
He is not currently charged with having physical contact with any of his victims and the charges do not involve members of the church congregation or the school, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Higgins allegedly adopted the persona of a teenage girl named Julie Miller and approached his victims over Snapchat and Instagram. He sent them photos of an unidentified nude female and convinced the boys to send images in return.
Once he had the compromising photos, he threatened to send them to the victim’s list of friends on their social media account unless they complied with his demands.
“When a boy would send a nude photo of himself, Higgins would instantly transform and warn the child, ‘I’ve got you,’ and threaten to circulate that photo if the child did not engage in additional sexual acts on camera for Higgins’s sick gratification,” Prosecutor Scott Coffina said in announcing the arrest. “The desperation of these young boys who were put in this position by this predator is truly heartbreaking.”
Higgins then recorded the sex acts he forced the boys to perform.
“According to the videos made by Higgins that were obtained during the investigation, victims would often beg Higgins to be allowed to stop engaging in sexual conduct, but Higgins would demand that they complete his instructions, or face the consequences of having the recordings he was making of the abuse be sent to their list of friends,” according to the prosecutor’s office.
The investigation began when a boy in Pennsylvania contacted Snapchat to report that he had sent nude photos to someone and was being threatened. A boy in Alabama reported his communications with Higgins to law enforcement.
Higgins was arrested at his home on Thursday after investigators forced their way inside when he refused to open the door. Search warrants were served at the church and his home and multiple electronic devices were seized, prosecutors said.
He was charged with six counts of manufacturing child sexual abuse material (first degree), one count of aggravated sexual assault (first degree), five counts of distribution of child sex abuse material (second degree), one count of sexual assault (second degree), six counts of possession of child sex abuse material (third degree), six counts of endangering the welfare of a child (third degree), and single fourth-degree counts of criminal sexual contact, obstruction and contempt.
Higgins was jailed pending a detention hearing.
Anyone who believes their child may have been a victim in a similar incident on social media involving a user named Julie Miller, Julia Miller or some variation of that name is asked to contact Burlington County authorities.