One young girl cut her skin with razors to distract from her mental anguish. Another turned to cocaine and meth because she couldn't afford therapy. A third girl never planned for life after high school, convinced she would kill herself by 18.
Together, theirs and other stories pieced together a mosaic of torment on Wednesday inside a St. Paul federal courtroom before a judge delivered a 43-year prison sentence in what he called the "largest known sextortion prosecution in United States history."
Prosecutors said that the government has so far identified some 750 victims — with more than 1,000 victims in total — linked to a yearslong scheme by 31-year-old Yue Vang of St. Paul to threaten the girls into sending him explicit photos on social media.
"His case is the worst in the country" in sheer magnitude, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Walcker, who prosecuted Vang.
The young girls ranged in age from 12 to 17 and lived in all 50 states. An additional 42 victims have been identified abroad, Walcker said. One mother who spoke during Wednesday's two-hour hearing described how she had only learned of her daughter being a victim two days ago.
Vang pleaded guilty in May to a scheme that began as early as 2015 and continued through the end of September 2020. He created fake social media accounts posing as minor girls and threatened his many victims with sending explicit images and videos of the girls unless they sent him more lewd content.
In many cases, he followed through with sending sexually explicit images of the girls to friends, family, and classmates. On multiple occasions, Vang ordered multiple girls to record penetrating themselves with a hairbrush. He also extorted some girls to help him obtain child pornography from other victims.
In imposing Vang's sentence, U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud cited the "unheard of number of victims" and the "staggering" amount of time and effort Vang made to identify the girls and piece together their social networks to aid in preying upon them.
Vang's "conduct was calculated and ineffably cruel," said Tostrud, who said Vang seized upon the girls' "greatest vulnerabilities." The judge added that it was "implausible" to consider that Vang was unaware of the harm he perpetrated in real time.
According to his plea agreement, Vang collected more than 1,000 files of child pornography images and videos involving girls ages 12-17. Walcker said Wednesday that it was "both notable and unusual" that a considerable number of the videos involved victims not previously identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Prosecutors gave examples of Vang's cruel interactions with victims.
"When he pushed his victims to the brink of suicide and they told him he made them want to kill themselves he responded curtly, 'Go ahead,' " Walcker said.
In a statement Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said that Vang's sentence showed "that the reprehensible crime of child sexual exploitation will not be tolerated."
Michael Paul, special agent in charge of the FBI's Minneapolis division, said that Vang's case "demonstrates the extensive reach of social media and the irreparable trauma one predatory individual inflicted on over a thousand young girls."
The victims who addressed the court — both in person and through written statements read into the record — described depression and suicide attempts, changing schools, losing friendships, leaving behind beloved sports, going from A-plus grades to failing or needing to be home schooled because they couldn't face their peers any longer.
John Arechigo, Vang's attorney, sought a 15-year sentence, the minimum allowed by law. He argued that Vang had a deep family support network, coming from a humble family of immigrants. Vang had no criminal history before his arrest in this case, Arechigo said.
"Working through this case, judge, it has been difficult to reconcile the person Mr. Vang is and the offense conduct that has occurred," Arechigo said.
Vang apologized to Tostrud and his victims in brief remarks.
"I feel ashamed and embarrassed by my actions and what I've done." Vang said. "I recognize that by saying I'm deeply sorry will never be enough to address the pain or the trauma that I caused."
Tostrud listened to 14 statements from victims and their families before sentencing Vang. They described how Vang contacted them on social media apps such as Snapchat and how quickly the conversation turned to sexual topics and demands that they send inappropriate pictures and videos. If they didn't comply, they said, Vang threatened and followed through with sending explicit photos of the girls to classmates.
The girls described harming themselves, even attempting suicide, to try to bring their ordeal to an end. Some girls were just beginning middle school when they were trapped in Vang's web. Others lost long stretches of their high school years to intensive therapy and, in some cases, treatment for eating disorders that nearly became fatal.
"I felt that being dead would be less painful than all of the emotions I experienced every day," one victim said.
Another girl said her encounter with Vang "changed my entire perception of myself. It made me believe I only mattered to someone if I was behaving sexually and if I wasn't, they would leave me."
Still others described moving to new cities and changing schools because of the damage inflicted on them — in multiple cases with their parents unaware that Vang was the source of their daughters' pain.
"I believe he should serve a year for each girl's life he's ruined," one victim said, later adding: "He should not be mourned or remembered."
