Mass. Man Faces LA Child Porn Charges

Los Angeles (myFOXla.com) - A Massachusetts man arrested on suspicion of luring dozens of teenage girls into posing for sexually explicit videos is set to face a federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday.

Federal prosecutors accuse 41-year-old Lawrence Silipigni of coercing underage girls across the country to perform sex acts on Web cameras by posing online as a 17-year-old boy.

The FBI alleges Silipigni shared the videos he made, along with other child pornography, with a network of men engaging in the same activities.

Federal agents arrested Silipigni at his Saugus, Mass., home last month, alleging they uncovered more than 100 videotapes of Webcam sessions involving teen girls.

A FOX 11 News investigation ( video ) in 2008 on communities dedicated to sexually exploiting underage girls led to the FBI investigation that led to Silipigni's arrest.

In the indictment filed last month in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Silipigni is charged with one count of inducing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity and eight counts of production of child pornography.

Prosecutors contend Silipigni stole the screen names of a teenage boy and used his photos to entice underage girls and induce them into engaging in sex chats and removing their clothes.

Investigators have not yet identified most of the alleged victims in the videos found on Silipigini's computer, but at least one of the girls is a Los Angeles area resident, officials said.

Silipigni was named as a suspect after a 14-year-old girl reported she was contacted online by the man posing as a teenage boy in 2007. The girl told authorities that over the course of six months, Silipigni persuaded her to perform in a sexually graphic manner on her Web cam, according to the FBI.

On at least one occasion, Silipigni is alleged to have met one of the victims in person, the FBI reported.

If convicted on all counts, Silipigni faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison.