DAVISBURG, Mich. – An Oakland County man was arrested after undercover federal officials caught him posting and receiving videos of children being sexually assaulted, according to court records.
Officials with Homeland Security Investigations said an undercover agent was conducting chats on a mobile application designed to allow people to talk to friends and share websites. On this app, users can control who they communicate with because usernames, not phone numbers, are the basis for accounts, officials said.
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The undercover agent created a group Sunday with a name that indicated child sexual abuse, court records show. Officials said at 1:11 p.m. someone with the username “oldman1981” entered the group and posted messages that said, “Active,” “Good vides to post anyone?” and “Wheres the good vids?”
Officials said the account was later linked to Michael Justin Hall, 38, of Davisburg, Michigan.
HSI agents said Hall posted a video in the group that meets the federal definition of child pornography. The video showed an adult man performing sex acts on a child between 6 months to 1 year old, officials said.
After posting it, Hall claimed to be the man shown in the video, court records show. He said he had access to two children -- one 6 years old and one 3 years old, officials said. Hall claimed the they were his friend’s children, according to authorities.
The undercover agent reached out to oldman1981 again Thursday morning. At that time, Hall denied that he was the man in the video, but said he wished it was him, court records show.
Authorities received the IP address from the mobile application and learned oldman1981 had logged into the app 49 times Sunday. The IP address was traced to a home on Hutchinson Drive in Davisburg, according to officials.
HSI agents executed a search warrant Thursday at the Davisburg home. Hall was there and handed over a cellphone in his pants pocket, authorities said.
Hall provided the password to his phone and officials found the conversations between oldman1981 and the undercover agent. He had shared the same video multiple times with other users on the app, including as recently as 1 a.m. Thursday, court records show.
Hall had also received videos and images that meet the federal definition of child pornography from other users, according to authorities.
On Jan. 8, Hall received two pictures from a user that show a young boy being raped, officials said. On Sunday, he received a video from another user that showed three naked children, with two of them performing sex acts, court records show. He also received a video Sunday from a different user that showed a young girl being raped by an adult man, according to officials.
Agents searched the Michigan Sex Offenders Registry and learned that Hall had been convicted in September 1997 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was a juvenile at the time, so it was cataloged as a juvenile adjudication, officials said.
Hall was also convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and possession of child sexually abusive material.
The criminal complaint says there is probable cause that Hall possessed child pornography and distributed and received child pornography.