Judge calls out man’s ‘hurtful, evil’ actions in exploiting young girl, hands down long sentence

Federal courthouse in downtown San Diego File photo by Chris Stone Times of San Diego A San Diego man who convinced a -year-old girl to send him sexual photographs of herself was sentenced Friday to a term far longer than prosecutors had sought U S District Judge Jinsook Ohta imposed a sentence for Eric Jin that was notably higher than the years recommended by the prosecution and defense The hurtful and evil nature of those actions on such young children is such that it really defies adequate description Ohta reported Jin persuaded the girl to send him pictures of her private parts to him on two occasions In one of those instances he instructed the girl to carve his name into her inner thigh She did so and sent him a photograph of the outcome prosecutors say Jin who pleaded guilty to a federal count of sexual exploitation of a minor was aware on both occasions that the girl was years old according to his plea agreement He also sent her pictures of other minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct the agreement states The victim now did not appear at the sentencing hearing but her mother reported Jin in court You have irreparably harmed an innocent child s life for your selfish desires Your actions have made her feel worthless in this world The woman explained the girl s parents had noticed a dramatic shift in her previously vibrant daughter s behavior during that time culminating in their discovery of the word Eric carved into the girl s leg and sexual photographs of the teen on her phone Jin apologized prior to being sentenced and explained I m absolutely disgusted at my actions and I wish that I never hurt people but I can t undo the pain that I ve caused