LANGDON, N.D. (KFGO) – A Kansas man is facing charges in Cavalier County, North Dakota for sexual exploitation, luring minors, and using minors for sexual performance. Court documents say 34-year-old Matthew McCarty started messaging young girls in 2016 when he was 27.
Court documents say a man messaged a 17-year-old girl who lived in Cavalier County on Snapchat and Facebook and had sexual conversations with the girl. The man claimed he was 17. Eventually, the girl blocked him, but the man created new accounts and continued to pressure the girl into sending him explicit pictures. In December 2017, the man created another Instagram account and messaged the girl again, saying he would use the conversations the two had earlier in the year to blackmail her. At this point, the girl went to the police. Officers were not able to connect the multiple accounts to a person at this point, and the case was forwarded to the North Dakota BCI.
In February 2022, a 16-year-old girl from Cavalier County contacted the Cavalier County Sheriff’s Office, saying she had received nude photos of a man on Facebook Messenger. The teen told offices the incident had started in 2016, when she was 10 and in 4th grade. Court documents say she was emailed a nude photo from an unknown man. The girl did not know what the picture was, and deleted the email.
In July 2021, the now-teenaged girl received more nude photos from a man on Facebook. In November, she blocked the account. In January 2022, the teen started to receive more explicit messages on Facebook. The girl contacted law enforcement in February.
Deputies and agents with the North Dakota BCI linked the 2017 case and the 2022 cases. Homeland Security used information provided by the victims to link the accounts and emails to McCarty. Authorities determined McCarty was living in Hillsboro, Kansas.
McCarty was interviewed by investigators in Marion County, Kansas. Court documents say he admitted to messaging girls starting in 2016 with a burner phone, and used WiFi at work to send the messages. He said he destroyed the phone in 2018. McCarty said he lived in Nebraska while messaging one of the victims, and then moved to Kansas where he messaged the others.
McCarty has three active cases in Cavalier County. His most recent charges were filed Friday. He faces charges of luring minors using a computer, sexual extortion, using minors for sexual performances, and indecent exposure.
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