Chicago man sentenced to decades in prison for enticing girls in the Philippines for sexually explicit images
CHICAGO (CBS) – A man was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for enticing young girls in the Philippines to create sexually explicit pictures and videos for him.
The U.S. Attorney's Office Northern District of Illinois said Karl Quilter, 58, of Chicago, pleaded guilty last year to a federal charge of sexual exploitation of children. He was sentenced last Friday in federal court.
In a plea agreement, Quilter admitted to communicating with the girls via the social media sites Facebook, Viber, and Skype between 2017 and 2020.
He referred to them as his "girlfriends" to manipulate and pressure them to send the photos and videos he demanded.
The office said Quilter preyed on the victims' financial difficulties by using money transfers to their families to entice them for the images.
In a message to one 16-year-old victim in 2020, Quilter promised to send money to her family for medicine and food if she complied with his demands.
"If u do what I tell you… I will make sure u can buy food for two weeks and your medication," he said in the message. "Think of your little sister that she can e[a]t for 2 weeks everyday 3 meals a day and u get well."
Quilter traveled to the Philippines in 2017 and 2018 and explicitly referenced his plans to have sex with several of the girls when he next visited the country in December 2020.
He was taken into custody by law enforcement in November 2020.
"Victim by victim, and message by message, the defendant used social media and the internet to target and groom young Filipino girls," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley A. Chung argued in the government's sentencing memorandum. "This was not a one-time aberration, but rather a years-long pattern of predatory abuse and exploitation of minors."
If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to missingkids.com or by calling 800-843-5678. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
