Richmond man accused of coaching victims in child porn videos. Fiancé turned him in
A Richmond man has been charged with eight counts of possessing and distributing child pornography and other crimes after police allegedly found “obscene footage” of minors on his laptop, according to court records.
Ryan McConnaughey, 32, was being held Monday at the Madison County Detention Center.
Police first became aware of McConnaughey’s behavior when his fiancé found the videos on his laptop and reported him to police, according to court documents. The laptop was subsequently seized and searched.
According to court records, officers found numerous videos that contained footage of females ranging from 8-16 years old performing sexual acts. McConnaughey would order the victims to show their private parts. There were also videos of other juveniles of unknown ages, police said.
McConnaughey contacted the victims through a video chat website called Omegle, per court documents.
Multiple videos showed the victims telling McConnaughey their ages, and he continued solicitation of the females, court records show. “It appeared that he would end the videos if the subject advised they were an adult,” police said in court documents.
After his fiancé confronted him, McConnaughey attempted to remotely access his laptop while at work and delete several of the videos, according to court records. Officers located those videos in the “trash bin” on his laptop.
In addition to possession and distribution of child porn, McConnaughey was charged with the use of a minor under 16 in a sexual performance.
Omegle has been heavily criticized as its use increased during the pandemic, driven in part by word spreading on TikTok, according to the BBC. Omegle says it moderates content but users have reported frequently finding men engaging in sexual acts on web cameras and contacting youths. Some publications have warned that the service is dangerous or tried to raise awareness among parents.
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 12:25 PM.
