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A Long Island healthcare executive, father to five kids, allegedly preyed on nearly a dozen teen girls to produce child porn over four years.
Jacob Walden, 38, is an executive and co-owner of Emerald Healthcare, a Woodmere-based company that oversees assisted living and nursing homes around the US. He was remanded to a federal jail on Wednesday.
At his arraignment at Central Islip Federal Court, Walden entered a not-guilty plea to a six-count indictment that charged him with sexually exploiting two teens, ages 16 and 17, as well as receiving and possessing child pornography, reported The New York Post.
"As alleged, the defendant enticed minors to produce sexually explicit photographs and videos of themselves and send them to him via the Internet in exchange for payment. Protecting children from predators who sexually exploit them will always be a priority of my Office," US Attorney John Durham, of the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
Prosecutors said Jacob Walden, a married man and father of five, bought at least 500 images and 5,000 child sexual abuse videos from a massive production and distribution network that catered to adult male buyers in the US and aboard.
They also claimed that Walden encouraged minors to take sexual photos of themselves by engaging in sexually explicit online chats with them via social media and encrypted messaging systems.
Jacob Walden was arrested on July 31, 2024. He was placed under home confinement at his Valley Stream home, with limitations imposed on his use of technological devices and interactions with children.
The accused broke his terms within a month of his arrest after he made an unscheduled stop at a Verizon store and offered a lady money for sex on WhatsApp.
According to law enforcement officials, Walden is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn without bail until his trial after prosecutors claimed he poses a risk of escape and is a danger to society.
His next court date is February 24. If found guilty, he may spend up to 30 years behind bars, prosecutors said.