A U.S. Naval recruit based in Lake County has been charged with enticing two 16-year-old victims into creating sexual child pornography materials for his personal gratification, authorities said.
Mesiah Espana, 22, was formally indicted in U.S. District Court on May 28 with knowingly employing, persuading or enticing two minor victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing pornographic materials involving minors, according to a complaint filed in federal court.
According to court documents obtained by the Lake & McHenry County Scanner, Espana used the social media application Discord to communicate online with two victims for the purpose of producing child pornography between July and September of 2025, court records show.
Specifically, the complaint alleges Espana used his Discord accounts to solicit and receive multiple images and videos that constitute child pornography from the two victims.
Both victims were approximately 16 years old at the time, court records show.
In addition to sexually explicit material, Espana directed one of the minor victims to engage in self-mutilation and self-strangulation for his personal gratification, the complaint alleges.
Espana is also accused of engaging in this practice over the Internet from the Naval Station – Great Lakes in North Chicago, where he has been stationed as an enlisted seaman recruit since approximately March of 2025.
Authorities received an anonymous tip that alleged Espana groomed and sexually exploited the victims after law enforcement obtained his Discord records and communications.
A review of those records, and subsequent subscriber records for associated email accounts, phone numbers, and IP addresses, showed Espana used at least two Discord accounts to communicate with the victims, where he solicited sexually explicit images.
Court records show the victims do not live in Illinois.
Investigators also received a Sept. 9 tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children showing that Espana knew the ages of both victims, and he had been communicating with one of the victims for 3 years.
Law enforcement identified approximately 18 images and 20 videos dated between August of 2023 and March of 2026, court records show, and that pornographic images and videos had been shared through Discord.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case, court records show. Espana is being represented in court by a public defender.
Espana is due in court on June 2.