Dr. Habib Bhatti, 44, of Barto, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on July 17 before United States District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl to multiple child sexual exploitation offenses in Philadelphia. The charges include one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct; one count of use of an interstate commerce facility to entice a minor and attempt to entice a minor for sexual conduct; two counts of production of child pornography; and two counts of possessing child pornography.
Bhatti was arrested on a criminal complaint and warrant in September 2025 and charged by information in June. According to court filings and admissions by Bhatti, between July 2024 and November 2024 he used the internet to persuade Minor Victim #1 into engaging in attempted statutory sexual assault. In November 2024, he traveled from Pennsylvania to California intending to engage in illicit sexual conduct with Minor Victim #1 and Minor Victim #2.
The case details further state that in December 2018, Bhatti sexually exploited Minor Victim #3 and Minor Victim #4 in Philadelphia by persuading them to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions. He also possessed multiple devices containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including images depicting at least one prepubescent child under the age of twelve.
As part of his plea agreement, Bhatti admitted committing offenses involving an additional 24 minor girls aged between fourteen and seventeen years old at the time. The defendant reportedly met these minors online and offered money for sexually explicit photos or for in-person encounters. For sentencing purposes, these additional acts will be treated as if he had been convicted on twenty-four more counts related to production of child pornography.
Bhatti is scheduled for sentencing on October 29. He faces a maximum possible term of life imprisonment, with a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section aimed at combating online child exploitation since May 2006. The investigation was conducted by the FBI with assistance from CEOS’s High Technology Investigative Unit.