E. Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California
A West Los Angeles man has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for using social media apps like Snapchat to entice children into creating sexually explicit videos. Mark David Wallin, aged 44, from the Del Rey neighborhood of Los Angeles, received his sentence from United States District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong. A restitution hearing is scheduled for August 13.
During the sentencing, Judge Frimpong described Wallin's actions as "cruel and relentless" crimes against children and noted his conduct involved "highly sexualized sadomasochistic conduct that no child should know of, let alone be exposed to."
Wallin has been in federal custody since July 2022 and pleaded guilty in September 2024 to charges including production of child pornography and enticement of a minor for criminal sexual activity.
Between 2019 and August 2021, Wallin used the internet to connect with pre-teen boys and girls both internationally and domestically. He developed online relationships intending to acquire sexually explicit images and videos from them. Wallin coerced victims into participating in sexually explicit video chats which he recorded without their knowledge.
After receiving content from his victims, Wallin sometimes demanded more images or videos under threat of exposing previous materials if they did not comply with his demands. In one instance during February and March of 2020, he enticed a victim around nine or ten years old at the time to produce explicit content via Snapchat.
In his plea agreement, Wallin admitted causing at least four additional victims aged between twelve and sixteen years old to create multiple files of child pornography. He also confessed to possessing approximately two hundred files containing child sexual abuse material as of August 2021.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Scott M. Lara and Catharine A. Richmond.
