American gets 50 years in jail for exploiting minor from PH

A 54-year-old man from Tuttle, North Dakota was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday after being convicted of exploiting a minor from the Philippines.

Calvin Bernhardt was found guilty of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted receipts of materials depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, counterfeit currency, tampering with witness or evidence, and attempted travel with intent to engage in sexual acts with a minor.

From around September 2015 to March 2016, Bernhardt persuaded and enticed a 14-year old Pinay to engage in and produce images of sexually explicit conduct online. He also induced her to send him sexually explicit or sadistic and masochistic images.

When he found out that an investigation was being conducted against him, he got in touch with the girl's mother in the Philippines and told her to delete images of himself and the victim on the minor's phone. He likewise, instructed the victim's mother not to talk to US Federal law enforcement officials in the Philippines.

Communications between the girl and Berndhart revealed that the American was planning to meet the teen in a hotel in the Philippines with the intent of engaging in sexual acts with her.

The case was brought to the attention of authorities through CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).