A healthcare executive from Valley Stream was arrested and charged by federal prosecutors for luring nearly a dozen teen girls to produce child porn for his consumption.
Jacob Walden, 38, co-owner and executive of Emerald Health Care, which operates nursing and assisted living facilities, was arraigned on January 22 in Central Islip Federal Court.
The married father of five faces a six-count indictment and is accused of sexually exploiting two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, by coercing them into producing sexually explicit videos and photos. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison.
Federal authorities allegedly found disturbing images from Walden’s cellphone in April and identified at least 11 girls, some as young as 14, whom he preyed on to produce sexually explicit content for money on social media from 2020 to 2024.
Prosecutors said Walden bought at least 500 images and 5,000 videos of sexually explicit and sexually degrading content from a large-scale production and distribution ring that advertised to men in the United States and abroad.
Walden also allegedly used social media and encrypted messaging services to chat in sexually inappropriate conversations with minors — insisting he’d be called ‘Daddy’ — and enticed them to send him sexually explicit photos.
Walden is being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn until his trial. His next day in court is Feb. 24.