ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - A Catawba man is facing serious federal charges after investigators say he posed as a teenage boy on social media to solicit explicit content from underage girls.

Jacob Ryan Barnett, 34, was arrested in North Carolina and is accused of grooming minors he contacted through platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and Discord. According to federal court records, Barnett used the fake identity “Jodie Johnson” to contact a 15-year-old girl in Michigan. He allegedly convinced her to send him sexually explicit material.

The FBI traced the phone number and social media accounts back to Barnett’s home in Catawba, Virginia. Investigators say he followed thousands of underage girls and used multiple platforms to contact other victims while posing as a teen.

If convicted, Barnett fac

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