Indian pleads guilty to sexually extorting minors through social media

Sai Kumar Kurremula, 31, 15 to 20 years in jail and fines up to $250,000 besides restitution to victims

By DesiMax Wire

An Indian national living in Edmond, Oklahoma, on an immigrant visa, has pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of three children and transportation of child pornography.

Sai Kumar Kurremula, 31, pleaded guilty on June 18 and admitted to sexually exploiting three minor victims and to knowingly transporting images of child pornography, according to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office, Western District of Oklahoma.

Specifically, Kurremula admitted that, to ensure the minor victims complied, he: threatened Jane Doe #1 that he would drive to her house and show her parents sexually explicit images of her; and threatened Jane Doe #2 that he would come to her house and shoot her family; and threatened Jane Doe #3 that he would publicly post sexually explicit images and videos of her.

At sentencing, Kurremula faces not less than 15 years in federal prison and up to 50 years in federal prison, a term of supervised release of not less than five years and up to life, and fines up to $250,000, special assessments of up to $55,100 on Count 1, and up to $40,100 on Count 2, as well as a restitution order to the victims.

He was charged with the offense on April 22, 2024, the release stated. According to an affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint, in October 2023, the FBI began investigating an account on the social media messaging app, Snapchat, involving a user who was sexually exploiting minor girls.

The Internet Protocol address used to create the account led federal authorities to Kurremula. Public documents allege Kurremula had sexually exploited multiple minors through Snapchat, often posing as a 13-15-year-old boy to gain the trust of his victims. When the victims refused his requests, Kurremula would manipulate, threaten, and extort his victims to produce even more child pornography.