Illinois man sentenced to 75 years for sextortion of minors after HSI Chicago investigation
Perpetrator created fake social media accounts to coerce, exploit and harass teenage girls
BENTON, Ill. — A U.S. District Court judge sentenced an Illinois man to 75 years in federal prison on April 17. A jury found him guilty of conducting a sextortion scheme on a popular social media platform with multiple victims ranging in ages from 11 to 17 years old. The conviction follows a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Springfield investigation.
The jury convicted Michael A. Ferris, 44, of Mill Shoals, of 25 felony counts of extortion, cyberstalking, and production, distribution and possession of child pornography in November 2022. Following his prison sentence, he will serve the rest of his life on supervised release.
“Combating child exploitation is a team effort and requires cooperation at the federal, state and local levels,” said HSI Chicago Special Agent in Charge Sean Fitzgerald. “The efforts to bring this individual to justice have resulted in one less predator on the streets who would look to victimize our children and endanger our communities.”
“Michael Ferris intentionally sought out young girls with exploitable past trauma for his own callous pleasure, and his coercive crimes caused devastating and long-lasting suffering for his victims,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe. “I appreciate the work by the investigative agencies to offer justice to the defendant’s victims.”
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Ferris targeted teenage girls on Facebook and engaged in a pattern of extortion, commonly known as “sextortion,” from at least March 2020 until November 2020.
As part of his scheme, Ferris created fake social media personas appearing to be teenage girls. He joined social media groups for teenagers or young survivors of sexual abuse. Ferris sent unsolicited messages to teenage girls under the guise of being a peer looking to make a new friend. If the teens responded, Ferris tried to convince them to send a nude photograph or answer personal questions about themselves. Ferris then used that information as leverage to coerce them into sending more explicit photos, answering more sexual questions, or performing sexual acts while Ferris watched on video chat. If his victims refused to comply or pleaded to stop, Ferris harassed and threatened them until they kept going, usually threatening to send the girls’ photos or answers to personal questions to their friends, parents, police or child protective services. Even after Ferris’ victims complied with his demands, he often still distributed their sexually explicit images to friends and family.
The investigation was conducted by agents from HSI Springfield with assistance from HSI's domestic and international offices; the Jackson County, Oregon Sheriff’s Office; the Jefferson County, Illinois Sheriff’s Office; the Illinois State Police; and the Aurora, Missouri Police Department. The U.S. Attorneys’ Office from the Southern District of Illinois, the Eastern District of Missouri, and Homeland Security Investigations provided victim and witness support.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ali Burns and Luke Weissler prosecuted the case.
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.
Learn more about HSI’s mission to combat child exploitation in our community on Twitter @HSIChicago.
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