A Redondo Beach man has been arrested on federal charges for allegedly paying impoverished Filipino boys to film sex acts, officials announced Thursday.
A criminal complaint claims Billy Frederick, 51, developed a relationship with at least one boy in the Philippines who performed sex acts online in exchange for money, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Frederick was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations agents Wednesday morning.
He allegedly stored various images and videos depicting child pornography in his Google accounts, some of which he obtained from video calls on Google Hangout, according to the complaint.
A July 2020 video detailed in the complaint allegedly shows a boy who appears to be between 11 and 14 years old engaging in sexual activity while Frederick recorded the call.
Additionally, in messages sent related to the call, the victim calls the defendant “master,” officials said.
Chats between Frederick and the victim show that the boy asked to borrow money to buy underwear.
Then after the exploitative video call, the defendant chatted online with the boy, who also asked for money to be sent to his brother, officials said.
During a search of one of Frederick’s online accounts, a special agent found many images of child sexual abuse involving victims between the ages of 6 and 15, according to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint. The agent indicated he also discovered messages where Frederick discussed the solicitation of child sexual abuse material of young boys, including “enticement to engage in sexually explicit activity.”
Frederick is charged with production of child pornography for transportation into the U.S. and is being held without bond.
He faces a minimum of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum of 30 years. He is scheduled to be arraigned on July 22.