By Shanice Punnett
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown and Police Commissioner William Bratton announced recently that a Corona man was arraigned on charges of luring young girls over the Internet to participate in what he allegedly called “The Game.”
The children were awarded points for performing various activities, including sexual acts which he allegedly requested of them starting with five points for a smile, the DA said.
The DA identified the defendant as Jorel Fowler, 23.
He was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on a complaint in which he is charged with seven counts of use of a child in a sexual performance, seven counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child and seven counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child, according to the DA.
He was ordered held on bail of $1 million bond or $750,000 cash, the DA said. “This defendant is alleged to have coached seven young girls who he met online to perform various types of sexual acts which he then videotaped — convincing the girls that they were playing a game,” Brown said. “Once again, we urge parents to monitor their children’s Internet activities because there are sexual predators waiting to take advantage of their children’s innocence and trusting nature,” he said.
Brown said detectives received a cyber tipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a child luring and child pornography complaint involving a 12-year-old girl from Altus, Okla. Fowler had allegedly been in communication with her earlier this year, according to Brown.
Fowler allegedly admitted to police that he had been in touch with more than 10 girls, the DA said.
Following the tip, detectives went to Fowler’s home on Feb. 20 and removed an Asus laptop and an iPhone 5 with his permission, the DA said.
Brown said a forensic examination of the laptop recovered seven videos, which allegedly included text and video conversations between the defendant and different girls under age 16. The videos allegedly depict the girls removing their clothing and displaying their body parts, according to the DA’s office.
At each level of the game, Fowler allegedly asked the child if she would like to proceed to the next levels, which involved her touching various body parts with her fingers or objects for 1,000 points and eventually for 3,000 points, Brown said.
At the end of “The Game,” Fowler allegedly asked the girls if they would like to do it again and asked for their cellphone numbers, the DA said.
“The Internet can be a valuable source of information and education for young children, but in this case it can also be a very dangerous environment,” Bratton said. “This predator used the Internet to manipulate and prey upon young girls, but thanks to the efforts of investigators of the NYPD’s Computer Crimes Squad and Queens district attorney’s office, Fowler can no longer exploit his victims,” he said.
The DA asked anyone who believes they may have been victimized or with information about the case to please call 718-286-6590.If convicted, Fowler faces up to 15 years in prison, the DA said.
