Sex offender pretending to be modeling scout guilty of preying on kids

A registered sex offender from Queens has been found guilty of preying on kids as young as 9 years old by pretending to be a modeling scout — and using more than two dozen Instagram accounts to solicit and share child pornography.

Davis Burgos-Collazo, 43, was convicted in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday of five counts of attempting to sexually exploit children, two counts of distributing child pornography, accessing child pornography with intent to view it, and committing a felony sexual offense involving minors while being a registered sex offender. 

During Burgos-Collazo’s weeklong trial, prosecutors argued that in 2020, the Jamaica resident employed 26 different Instagram accounts with names like “future models” and “preteen beauty pics” to lure young children, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.

In one instance, the prosecutors said, Burgos-Collazo coerced a 10-year-old girl into performing live sex acts for him on Instagram.

When the child begged the 43-year-old man to leave her alone, Burgos-Collazo “threatened to post a naked picture of the 10-year-old child online for her friends to see,” according to the DOJ.

A criminal complaint filed in the case stated that a 12-year-old victim came forward to law enforcement to report that one of Burgos-Collazo’s social media accounts had messaged her, asking the girl “to show him her vagina.”

The same girl said she also witnessed the defendant masturbate to images of children being sexually abused, reported Law&Crime.

The FBI ultimately recovered more than 100 photos and videos of child pornography on Burgos-Collazo’s phone. 

“Burgos’s conviction illustrates how vulnerable our children are to sexual predators,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael Driscoll. “The heartbreaking pleas from one of his victims to be left alone should shock parents and guardians.”

The Queens man’s current sex offender status stems from a March 2006 conviction for the rape of a 7-year-old child and attempted sexual assault of two other minors, ages 9 and 11.

Burgos-Collazo faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced at a later date to be determined.