MySpace predator convicted of 79 felonies
Mar 14, 2012, 10:24 PM
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) – A California man who used the social networking site MySpace to exploit and abuse young girls across the country has been convicted of dozens of felony charges.
A jury found 34-year-old Joshua David Threlkeld guilty of 79 felonies and one misdemeanor charge Wednesday in Riverside County Superior Court.
Prosecutors say Threlkeld created a fake modeling agency between 2007 and 2009 and pretended to be a 13-year-old model on the site to trick his victims into sending him nude pictures.
Threlkeld took one child to Palm Springs and sexually assaulted her there, while he took others to his home in Orange or a location in San Jacinto (hah-SIN’-toh) where he photographed them in the nude.
Threlkeld was discovered when one of the would-be model’s friends reported the pictures to her mother.
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