Popular adult film star accused of spreading child sexual abuse material via Telegram

A popular adult film star has been arrested and charged with possessing and distributing hundreds of child sexual abuse videos through the encrypted chat app Telegram, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced Friday.

Justin Heath Smith, 43, known as Austin Wolf, was charged with distributing and receiving child pornography and possession of child pornography. Federal authorities said they linked him to an anonymous Telegram account that shared child sexual abuse material.

According to the federal complaint, the investigation into Smith began in April when FBI agents seized and searched a cellphone belonging to another Telegram user.

A search of the phone by authorities revealed that the Telegram user had been communicating with someone using the username “Anon Anon.” The two accounts exchanged approximately 200 videos and photos depicting child sexual abuse between March 24 and March 28, according to the complaint.

The Telegram user told authorities that he and Smith had previously met in person and provided a physical description of “Anon Anon” that matched the adult film star.

Agents then used the Telegram user account to secretly communicate with “Anon Anon,” or Smith. According to the complaint, “Anon Anon” mentioned leaving for work on April 14 and returning almost a week later. A review of U.S. Customs and Border Protection records showed Smith was traveling on those dates.

The complaint says authorities conducted a search of Smith’s Manhattan apartment after “Anon Anon” found he kept child sexual abuse material on a computer in his room. Law enforcement recovered an SD card containing approximately 200 videos of child sexual abuse in the computer room.

The complaint says the material allegedly depicted children as young as infants.

Wolf has nearly 800,000 followers on Instagram and millions of followers on X, and was also popular on OnlyFans. In 2018, he was reportedly the most popular gay porn star on Pornhub. At the time, he became popular for a raunchy video he made with a laid-off Delta Airlines flight attendant.

Telegram, a messaging platform, has been found to host harmful content. A recent investigation by The Washington Post found several cases of groups engaging in illegal activities or violating the platform’s policies, including users who posted child sexual abuse material, videos of corpses being desecrated, and images of minors self-harming.

The platform responded by saying that deterring these groups is an urgent priority.

“Child abuse and incitement to violence are expressly prohibited by Telegram’s terms of service,” Remi Vaughn, a spokesperson for the messaging platform, told the Washington Post. “Telegram has moderated harmful content on our platform since its inception.”

Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Violence Helpline or National Sexual Violence Resource Center website.

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