Danville Man Sentenced to 19 Years for Enticement of Multiple Minors and Extortive Threats
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia announced that Jesus Diaz, of Danville, was sentenced this week in Lynchburg to 19 years in federal prison, to be followed by 20 years of supervised release. Diaz, 25, pleaded guilty in July 2026 to one count of making extortive threats to injure the reputation of another and four counts of enticement of a minor.
According to court documents, between July 2019 and November 2021 Diaz used social media to entice a minor who was about 13 to 14 years old to send nude and sexually explicit photos and videos. In February 2024, after years without contact, he contacted her again, sent back the images she had sent years earlier and threatened to distribute them unless she added him on another platform, then spent months threatening to expose her to her high school, family and church while seeking more images. Investigators later found that between 2022 and 2024 he used similar methods with three other minors who were 15 to 17 years old, threatening to leak their images.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert N. Tracci said the defendant targeted and sexually exploited children and then tried to silence them through fear and intimidation. Kai Wah Chan, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Washington, D.C., said Diaz used deception and threats to exploit children as young as 13 and that the victims' courage in reporting and cooperating was essential. HSI investigated the case with assistance from multiple agencies, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Brett is prosecuting, and the case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：弗吉尼亚西区联邦法院 Lynchburg 法院大楼（资料图），公共领域。Photo: U.S. Courthouse for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg (file photo), public domain.
