Yakima man pleads guilty to luring teens into sending him sexually explicit images | Crimes and Courts

A Yakima man will be sentenced in federal court in December on multiple charges alleging he lured young girls into producing child sexual abuse material.

Craig Michael Berry, 37, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday to seven counts of producing and attempting to produce child pornography and eight counts of enticement and attempted enticement of minors on the Internet.

There was no plea deal in court documents, but Berry changed his plea to guilty to all 15 counts. In his plea, Berry admitted he contacted the girls through Snapchat and knew all but one were minors, but said he later found out they were all under 18.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Murphy and his defense attorney Paul Shelton said that only one of the eight girls Berry contacted refused to send him the requested pictures. In court documents, prosecutors said Berry took significant steps to commit the crimes with that girl.

Judge Stanley Bastian told Berry that he faces a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison for the production charge and 10 years to life in prison for the seduction charge. He will also be required to serve five years to life under court supervision and register as a sex offender.

The federal charges stem from a 2022 Yakima Police investigation into allegations that Berry paid teenagers for nude photos.

The investigation led to the identification of several girls who said Berry met them either at a haunted house he operated or through social media, court documents show.

Berry, the girls told investigators, bought them various items, from groceries to cell phones to alcohol and marijuana. He then demanded that the girls send him nude photos and videos and also gave them lingerie and sex toys for the videos, court documents say.

In one case, Berry threatened to cut off a girl’s cell phone if she did not comply with his demands. He told another girl he would report her for child pornography if she did not do what he said, the documents say.

He was originally charged in Yakima County Superior Court with multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, commercial sexual abuse of a minor, communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and providing alcohol and marijuana to a minor. He was also charged with one count of sexual battery of a minor after one of the girls testified that he touched her breasts under her clothing, court records show.

Yakima County prosecutors dismissed that charge without prejudice on October 12, 2023, one day after the federal charges were filed, giving prosecutors the opportunity to refile it if necessary.

Berry was initially released on $50,000 bail, but the court’s remand ruled that he had violated the conditions of his release by chatting online with a minor while playing a video game. His bail was increased to $70,000 and he was ordered to use only a tablet that has filters restricting his internet usage.

However, in February, Berry was again charged with violating the terms of his release when he used an unauthorized computer to play World of Warcraft with a group that included a minor, prosecutors said.

He was remanded in custody on $85,000 bail. According to jail records, Berry has been held in the Yakima County Jail since his arraignment.