Man Pleads Guilty To Child Porn Charges For Catfishing Minors On Social Media

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities man pleaded guilty Tuesday to child pornography charges after he allegedly tricked underage girls into sending him sexually explicit images and videos on social media.

Peter James Monson, 38, of Cottage Grove, pleaded guilty to producing, attempting to produce and possessing child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Minnesota said.

According to court documents, between 2019 and 2020, Monson engaged in "catfishing" in order to talk to children on the internet, creating fake internet personas and pretending to be a child himself.

One of the personas on Snapchat, a 16-year-old girl named "Brianna," asked minor girls to send photos and videos of themselves naked or engaging in sex acts so that they could be rated as "princesses" by others.

Additionally, in April 2020, Monson used his iPhone to secretly record an 8-year-old while she was getting dressed, the court documents alleged.

The attorney's office said this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative to combat child sex exploitation and abuse.

No information has been released on when Monson will be sentenced.