Officials: NJ man pretended to be a student, recorded minors online

A Morris County man posed as a high school student so that he could chat inappropriately with minors and get them to engage in sexually explicit behavior, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger announced on Wednesday.

In one instance, the 23-year-old defendant recorded a minor masturbating over a video call, officials said.

Carlos Xavier Urbina-Gutierrez, aka, Luis Urbina-Gutierrez, has been charged with producing and possessing images of child sexual abuse and enticement of a minor.

The Wharton resident was using a fake online female persona on social media to get the attention of young males, according to officials. He actually enrolled as a student at a Morris County high school, which wasn't named, and chatted online with students who were legitimately attending the same school, officials said.

On Christmas in 2023, according to documents filed in the case, the defendant participated in a video call with a minor, during which the minor exposed himself and masturbated.

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According to officials, Urbina-Gutierrez recorded the call and saved it, without telling the minor.

In spring of this year, officials received intel that Urbina-Gutierrez had been soliciting videos from minors online, according to the U.S. Attorney.

During a recorded statement to officials, Urbina-Gutierrez consented to a search of his home. He then consented to searches of the devices that were uncovered during the search.

Also, the Honduran national admitted to using the fake female persona on two social media platforms in order to get minors to perform sexually explicit acts, officials said. Urbina-Gutierrez additionally admitted that he recorded video calls and maintained copies, officials said.

A search of one his phones uncovered a one-minute video call depicting a minor masturbating, officials said.

There's a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years behind bars for the charge of production of child pornography. Enticement of a minor carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.

At the time of this writing, legal representation for Urbina-Gutierrez was not known.

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