LOS ANGELES – A resident of the Westside of Los Angeles pleaded guilty Friday to federal criminal charges for using websites and apps such as Snapchat to meet and entice children to engage in sexually explicit conduct via video chat then take screen shot images and videos of them.
Mark David Wallin, 42, of the Del Rey area, pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography and one count of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Wallin has been in federal custody since his July arrest.
According to his plea agreement, from 2019 to August 2021, Wallin used the internet to “meet” pre-teen boys and girls — both abroad and in the United States — then develop romantic relationships with them online, with the intent to obtain sexually explicit images and videos from the children. Wallin also persuaded the victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct via video chat, which allowed him to take screenshot images and videos, according to documents filed in Los Angeles federal court.
After his victims sent him sexually explicit content, Wallin would demand additional sexually explicit images and videos from them.
For example, in February and March of 2020, Wallin enticed a victim, who was about 9-10 years old at the time, to engage in sexually explicit conduct to be displayed to him via Snapchat, a multimedia instant messaging application.
Wallin admitted to knowingly causing at least four additional victims – – ranging in age from 12 to 16 years old — to create or participate in the creation of multiple files of sexually explicit material featuring themselves.
Wallin further admitted to possessing on a smartphone about 200 sexually explicit videos featuring children in August 2021.
U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong scheduled an April 21 sentencing hearing, at which time Wallin will face a mandatory minimum of 15 years in federal prison up to life imprisonment, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
