A deeply unsettling case of child sexual exploitation has resulted in a 34-year-old former substitute teacher and volleyball coach from Taneytown, Maryland receiving a 17-year federal prison sentence. Evan Thomas Harris Frock’s crimes involved using social media to pose as a teenager and systematically manipulate and coerce minors into producing and sending him explicit sexual content.

Court documents reveal that between 2021 and May 2022, Frock adopted various aliases portraying himself as both a minor male and female across multiple social platforms. Through these fictitious personas, he initiated contact with at least eight victims aged 9 to 17 years old. Frock’s modus operandi was to psychologically pressure these vulnerable children into creating and transmitting sexually explicit images and videos of themselves to him.

The depravity of Frock’s actions was further compounded by an incident where he distributed a sexually explicit video depicting a minor male while also sending images of his own genitalia to the children, in a perverse attempt to elicit reciprocation. Investigators also uncovered that Frock had amassed a massive trove of several hundred commercially produced child sexual abuse materials, some involving toddlers, violent acts, and even bestiality.

The announcement of Frock’s sentencing was a collaborative effort involving the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, the FBI, local law enforcement from Carroll and Howard Counties, and the Carroll County State’s Attorney. This unified front underscores the gravity of Frock’s offenses and the commendable determination to bring such predators to justice.

While the 17-year sentence can never undo the trauma inflicted on Frock’s victims, it serves as a stark reminder of the severe consequences awaiting those who exploit positions of trust and authority to sexually victimize children. As technology continues to evolve, so must our collective vigilance in protecting the most vulnerable members of society from the clutches of online predators.