Veteran Sacramento Pilot Indicted In Philippines Child Porn Production Scheme

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A veteran Sacramento pilot is now at the center of a federal indictment, charged with buying children and producing child pornography using minors from the Philippines.

Thai Airways pilot Michael Clemans, 55, gave clear instructions to his accomplice in the Philippines, the U.S. Attorney's office said—he wanted virgin girls between 10 and 16 years old who were poor and desperate for money or came from an orphanage.

A federal grand jury indictment says Cleman's conspiracy started in June of 2014 while he was working in Bangkok, Thailand. The attorney's office says he solicited the help of a Philippine national, Lyan Tendag, online to recruit underage girls for him to produce child porn and have sex.

Through his Yahoo chat account, the criminal complaint reveals evidence the Sacramento man used the screen name Spitzinu to coordinate the sexually explicit work.

The government says Clemans wired thousands of dollars to Tandeg for equipment and rental apartments. Money was even paid to guardians of the children in exchange for temporary custody so the child porn could be produced.

Clemans was arrested by federal authorities in July and he's now being held without bail in the Sacramento County jail.