Hemet man pleads guilty to "catfishing" 12-year-old girl to receive explicit pictures

A Hemet man has pleaded guilty to "catfishing" a 12-year-old girl in order to receive sexually explicit photos of herself and her even younger sister. 

John Mathew Piecuch, 64, admitted to the felony charge during a hearing at the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana for using the material to produce child pornography, according to a statement from federal prosecutors. They dropped two additional related charges under a plea agreement. 

He now faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and will remain held without bail at a federal detention center until his sentencing hearing on Oct. 25. 

Court filings say that Piecuch used Robox, an online gaming platform, in Dec. 2020 when he met the victim, only identified as a 12-year-old Carroll County, Maryland girl. 

He was able to convince her that he was a 13-year-old boy through a series of online text messages, eventually persuading her to send him sexually explicit images of herself and her 5-year-old sister, the court papers say. 

In Jan. 2021, the girl's mother discovered the texts and reported the activity to her local law enforcement office, who then contacted the FBI. The investigation led to a search of Piecuch's home, located in the 26200 block of Frazier Street, where he was arrested without incident. 

"This defendant has admitted his despicable acts and now will face a significant prison sentence," said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada in a statement. "I urge parents everywhere to be vigilant when it comes to their children's online usage. Predators lurk in the shadows and use the internet's cloak of anonymity to inflict life-long trauma."