Man in court facing fifth child pornography case

A 20-year-old Camas man who’s been under investigation for child pornography and online child exploitation since December is facing more allegations in a fifth case. Zachary William Akers already has four pending cases related to the investigation and appeared Thursday in Clark County Superior Court on new allegations: second-degree possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, two counts of second-degree dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, second-degree viewing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of cyber stalking and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. He will be arraigned in the new case April 28. The prosecution said investigators have identified six victims so far. The ages of the victims range from 14 to 16 years old, court records show. Vancouver police Detective David Jensen said the latest victim lives out of state. Akers allegedly befriended several underage girls on Facebook, then threatened to expose private messages and compromising photos he had received unless they agreed to send lewd photos and video to him, or to meet him to have sex, according to the Vancouver Police Department. He used his name and a fake profile name to solicit the victims, police said. In some cases, he sent images of child pornography he had obtained to others over the Internet, according to court documents. Akers has been in the Clark County Jail since Jan. 5, booking records show. Between the four other cases, Akers is charged with a total of 27 counts: first-degree possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, second-degree possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, two counts of second-degree viewing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, four counts of second-degree dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, two counts of possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexual conduct, five counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, commercial sex abuse of a minor, two counts of cyber stalking, second-degree rape, third-degree child rape and second-degree extortion with sexual motivation. On Thursday, Judge David Gregerson ordered Akers be held on an additional $25,000 bail, for a total of $200,000 bail. This story will be updated.