Facebook scam leads to child pornography charges

LEAGUE CITY, Texas – Last week while reviewing social media posts, League City police noticed suspicious activity from a local registered sex offender.

Though the activity was not necessarily illegal, officers still took notice. Later, officers said they connected the name, 33-year-old John Lee Jennings II, with a Facebook conversation involving Jennings trying to scam a victim in Florida out of thousands of dollars.

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Officers said they received a private message from the Florida victim with screen shots of the conversation between Jennings and himself.

Police said Jennings contacted the victim via social media and told him that he had been awarded or had inherited a large amount of money. According to police, Jennings then told the victim to send him $2,000 to pay for the processing, legal fees and transfer of the promised money, which was never delivered.

Investigators said after learning of the scam, they immediately contacted Jennings, posing as one of his potential victims.

Arrangements were made for Jennings to pick up the "processing fee" at a local check cashing store, and Jennings showed up with an accomplice, police said. As soon as Jennings attempted to withdraw the money, both Jennings and his accomplice, 44-year-old Thomas Clement, were arrested by League City police.

Jennings and Clement were both taken to the League City Police Department to be interviewed. During the interview process, police said they discovered that both men were in possession of child pornography. 

Police said Jennings admitted to being part of the scam and said he was sending most of the money to a Nigerian man in exchange for Jennings to have access to young girls. Jennings was charged with possession of child pornography with intent to distribute. His bond was set at $100,000.

Clement was charged with possession of child pornography and bond was set at $25,000.