The FBI announced Saturday that a Sylmar man was sentenced to life in federal prison for committing multiple violent sex crimes against minors and possessing over 115,000 child sexual abuse material (CSAM) files of at least 207 real children, including infants and toddlers.
The convict, identified as 79-year-old Edwin Bernard, was sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to four counts of child exploitation, including possession, distribution and production of child pornography, as well as coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sex.
Bernard sought out young boys online from the years of at least 2009 to 2014, according to the FBI, and would groom and engage them romantically and sexually.
“By at least 2009, Bernard served as a moderator under the usernames ‘netzoomer’ and ‘netzoomer16’ on websites where men seek to engage sexually with minor boys,” stated the FBI’s release. “Through this connection, Bernard met a 14-year-old victim and instructed the victim to perform sex acts, including cutting to the point of bleeding, which Bernard recorded on at least two occasions without the victim’s permission or knowledge.”
In addition to other sex crimes conducted via online communications, in 2014, Bernard flew from California to another state where one of his grooming victims resided and rented a hotel room where he took the then-16-year-old boy. “After instructing the victim to undress, Bernard raped him,” said the FBI.
According to the release, Bernard also encouraged others to engage in the sexual abuse of children — one of whom, Michael Rushmer, was arrested and sentenced in New York in 2019 for producing CSAM and engaging in sex with a minor.
When the FBI searched Bernard’s home on Dec. 9, 2015, they found more than 115,000 files containing suspected CSAM across Bernard’s devices.
“The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) identified at least 207 real children whose sexual abuse was depicted in images and videos the defendant possessed,” stated the release. “There were multiple videos and images depicting infants and toddlers, as well as masochistic sexual conduct involving children under the age of 12. Based on an analysis of the metadata, Bernard had been collecting CSAM files for over a decade.”
The FBI believes that Bernard may have additional victims who have not yet been identified, and urges anyone who believes they were victimized or who has information about a victim to contact them at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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