A 53-year-old man has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term following his guilty plea to charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors.

According to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, William Scott Elam, a resident of Middletown, masqueraded as a 14-year-old boy to gain the trust of young girls aged between 10 and 16.

The release highlighted that Elam targeted particularly “vulnerable” individuals, specifically young girls grappling with self-harm, body image issues, or other social challenges.

Over a period of roughly four years, Elam established relationships with victims across seven different states. He manipulated these girls into sending explicit photographs, engaging in online sexual activities, and even harming themselves, as detailed in the press release.

In one distressing instance, Elam coerced a victim into performing sexual acts for him via live video by threatening self-harm. In another case, he persuaded a victim who struggled with self-harm to injure herself on camera.

Elam coerced many girls into doing what he wanted with threats of publicly releasing nudes of them that he had collected. Reportedly, he pretended to be a teen relative in his blackmailing scheme, according to a press release.

“It is alleged that Elam also pretended to be a 14-year-old cousin to his other persona,” the release stated. “Using the second persona, he allegedly coerced the victim into sending new live sexual content by threatening to show “his cousin’s mom” her previous encounters with Elam.”

U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II described Elam as a cowardly predator who hides and seeks the weak.

“Predators like Elam hide behind a computer screen while preying on vulnerable children,” Gerace said. “But the damage they do is real, and so is the time they’ll spend in federal prison for it.”

Elam was arrested in October 2023 and pleaded guilty in July 2025.

On November 20, he received a sentence of 26 years in federal prison for 10 counts of coercion and enticement and one count of sexual exploitation of children.

[Feature Photo via Butler County SO]