TULSA, Okla. — A Broken Arrow man who sexually exploited a young child and was an administrator for a transnational child exploitation chat group pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court.
Cameron Kelly McAbee, 32, is charged with multiple federal charges, such as child exploitation enterprise and possession and distribution of child pornography. McAbee allegedly was an administrator behind a chat group that led to five additional arrests and the rescue of multiple child victims in the United States and Europe.
According to federal court documents, the FBI discovered a chat group in July that shared explicit material of minors involved actively and determined McAbee was an administrator.
“Through an extensive investigation by the FBI and our task force partners, Cameron McAbee and a group of 20 other predators have been identified and will face justice in their respective jurisdictions for the trauma they have caused to children,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners in Oklahoma and across the nation will continue to identify, track, arrest and prosecute pedophiles who harm the most vulnerable among us.”
Johnson said the FBI noticed the group required people to post porn pictures in order to get a membership to the site. Then, members had to produce and share images and videos of themselves sexually abusing children.
On July 24, McAbee is alleged to have posted a "live" photo to the group showing sexual abuse of a child.
Two days later, the FBI linked the administrator account to McAbee and conducted a search warrant at his Broken Arrow home.
FBI agents said he allegedly confirmed to them in an interview that he held an administrative role in multiple groups, including one specifically designed for sharing explicit images and videos of children that the members had physical access to.
Alvin M. Winston, Acting Special Agent from FBI Oklahoma City says this about the arrest in November:
"FBI Agents in both Tulsa and Atlanta, along with task force partners discovered, investigated and ultimately neutralized an international cabal of alleged child predators.The threat Mr. McAbee and his partners posed to children worldwide were thwarted by the relentless dedication of FBI investigators joining forces with detectives from Tulsa and Broken Arrow police departments. Only through strong police partnerships can law enforcement remain unified and effective in the global fight to bring child predators to justice."
“When you have an internet that reaches globally and can bring individuals together that’s a good thing a lot of times, but when criminals use it for nefarious reasons it turns into a bad thing,” Johnson said.
For families who worry about how to prevent this from happening, Maura Guten with the Child Abuse Network said it's important to talk with children about boundaries at an early age.
“It’s absolutely fine for them to say maybe I don’t want to hug my grandmother, or my uncle, or somebody, and those are things that we have to respect, and it helps children understand boundaries. It helps children understand that when they say this is my rule then they know that with other bigger things this is going to be the rule and people need to respect that boundary,” Guten said.
Attorney Johnson also recommends parents stay vigilant about what children are doing online and who they are talking to.
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