LANCASTER, Pa. — Note: The video is from Tegna affiliate KXTV in California.
A 24-year-old California man has been charged with grooming more than 80 children online, enticing them into producing child pornography, according to law enforcement authorities in Sacremento.
KXTV reports that Demetrius Carl Davis, 24, portrayed himself online as an 11-year-old girl named "Lizzy" in an effort to reach children and groom them.
Davis victimized children in 25 states, including five in Pennsylvania, KXTV reports.
One of the victims has been identified as an 11-year-old from Lancaster, according to authorities.
Three of the other Pennsylvania victims are from the Philadelphia area, while the fourth is from Tioga County, authorities say.
"What's particularly heinous about this is that this grooming led up to our suspect asking these children to perform sexual acts on their siblings, other relatives and other kids that they know and film it and then send that video to our suspect," Sgt. Rod Grassmann, spokesperson for the Sacremento Sheriff's Office, told KXTV.
The sheriff's office began investigating Davis after getting a tip about an account suspected of uploading child sex abuse material online, KXTV reports.
Deputies served a search warrant on Dec. 1, 2021 and found screen recordings that showed children engaged in sexual acts, according to KXTV.
Investigators said they found numerous files in cellphones and accounts that he was using to communicate.
"At that time, we did not have enough evidence to arrest him on site, but we took all those electronics," Grassmann told KXTV. "Over the last several months, we have forensically analyzed all of those and have identified 80 different victims and an additional 15 to 20 internationally, which we have not identified yet."
He said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is also working on identifying the more than 15 other victims residing internationally. The victims vary in age but deputies say they range between six and 13 years old.
"Like I said, we have identified 80 individual victims, and I'm certain that we will have more," Grassmann told KXTV.
The sheriff's office said Davis could have spoken with more than 100 children between late 2020 and Dec. 2021.
Deputies are asking parents to check their children's electronic devices and contact the Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force if they think their child sent any illicit material to someone named "Lizzy."
They can be reached at 916-874-3002 or ICAC@sacsheriff.com.
"Every electronic device connected to the internet is like an open window to the entire world. You have no idea who is talking to your child," Grassmann said.
Davis was arrested and booked into the Sacramento County jail Tuesday on suspicion of committing a lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14, according to the sheriff's office website.