A Camas man who is accused of luring girls on Facebook was back in a Clark County courtroom Wednesday morning to face new charges in a new case.
Zachary William Akers, 20, now faces two felony cases that allege he committed three counts of possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second-degree viewing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, three counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, second-degree dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and commercial sex abuse of a minor.
Akers is accused of befriending several girls on Facebook, then threatening to expose private messages and compromising photographs he had received unless they agreed to send lewd photos and video to him, or to meet him to have sexual relations, according to a bulletin from the Vancouver Police Department.
He used the Facebook profile name of Zachary Akers and a fake profile name to solicit the victims, Vancouver police said. In several cases, Akers sent images of child pornography he had obtained to others over the Internet, the bulletin said.
“He’s systematically and deliberately preying on young girls,” Deputy Prosecutor Kristine Duncan said during Akers’ court appearance.
Akers reportedly told detectives that when he feels a girl has betrayed him, he “lashes out,” Duncan told the court.
She said there are three victims between the two cases and asked for no-contact orders between Akers and the victims.
Judge David Gregerson set Akers’ bail at $50,000 in the new case. Duncan argued that Akers’ $15,000 bail in the other case should be revoked because of an alleged violation of the terms of his supervised release. He reportedly failed to report to corrections officials after he made bail, she said.
Gregerson declined to address the issue until Akers’ court-appointed defense attorney, Diane Sweet, is present.
‘Waste of my money’
Akers told the court he thinks “it’s a little ridiculous” he was released from custody, just to be rearrested three days later.
“It’s a waste of my money,” he said of the bail amounts.
Akers will be arraigned Jan. 20 in the new case dealing with communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and Jan. 14 in the first case in connection with child pornography and online child exploitation.
The case was investigated by the Vancouver Police Department and Clark County Sheriff’s Office Digital Evidence Cyber-crimes Unit, with assistance from the Camas Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to the police bulletin.
