EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A Belleville, Illinois, man appeared in federal court Tuesday after admitting to exploiting minors by producing sexual abuse material.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois said Zachary Dennert, 21, targeted young boys on social media, gained their trust by pretending to be a young girl, and then manipulated his victims into producing sexually-explicit material for him.
Dennert pleaded guilty to four counts of production, distribution, and transportation of child sexual abuse material.
According to court documents, in 2020, Dennert created fake profiles on several social media platforms and posed as a female teenager. He then coaxed boys between the ages of 11 and 15 to send him explicit images.
Local and federal investigators recovered more than 600 images of sexual abuse material from Dennert’s social media accounts.
A U.S. District Court judge sentenced Dennert to 15 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.