SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- A Texas man faces child pornography charges after allegedly persuading underage girls to send him photos of themselves by saying they would be on TV.
An indictment alleges Gemase Lee Simmons, 35, of San Antonio, got five girls to send him nude or sexually explicit pictures of themselves, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
A criminal complaint affidavit said Simmons offered one of the girls a chance to be a model and spokeswoman for what he called G2 News.
Simmons, the affidavit said, used text features of separate mobile phone accounts to pose as different people as he attempted to coerce, pressure and extort the girl into taking nude photos of herself and transmit them to him.
A female associate of Simmons told the FBI he used the same method to "obtain nude and sexually explicit images and videos of other minor females in San Antonio," the affidavit said.
Simmons faces 14 counts of production of child pornography, two counts of receiving child porn, two counts of distributing it, one count of transporting it and two counts of possessing it.
The Express-News said the charges carry up to 20 years in prison, except for the charges of production of pornography, which each carry up to 30 years in prison.
