FBI seeks potential victims of Cypress man accused of coercing girls into making explicit videos
CYPRESS, Texas - Authorities are searching for potential victims of a Cypress man accused of coercing underage girls into producing and transmitting sexually-explicit videos of themselves.
Officials say a federal grand jury returned a six-count superseding indictment against 37-year-old Patrick Tran, charging him with production and possession of child pornography and coercion and enticement of multiple victims. He remains in custody pending trial.
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According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, the charges allege he used a fabricated online persona to entice hundreds of underage girls for more than 10 years and coerced them into producing the videos.
According to the Attorney’s Office, law enforcement believes Tran may have asked numerous people under the age of 18 to produce videos and/or engage in sexual conduct while online. The FBI is asking for the public’s help to identify potential underage victims.
Court records show that possible contact could have been with his alias "Reggie Smith", or through SnapChat with username Travis_Story20 or via Omegle, according to the Attorney’s Office.
Anyone who believes they are a victim or has any information regarding a potential victim, is asked to fill out a brief secure questionnaire available at www.fbi.gov/patricktran.
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Tran was originally charged March 24, 2021, and taken into custody soon after, authorities say.
According to the Attorney’s Office, it was revealed at his detention hearing that the case came to law enforcement’s attention when a mother allegedly found her 10-year-old daughter standing naked in front of her iPad. Officials say chat communications appeared to show Tran was coercing the girl into engaging in sexually explicit conduct, according to testimony.
The Attorney’s Office says the court also heard about approximately 4,000 video files containing webcam-based videos of young females engaging in sexually-explicit conduct – many of females under the age of 18 – which are allegedly attributable to Tran.
If convicted, Tran faces up to life in prison.