WJZ

Prosecutors say an Essex man who allegedly posed online as a lesbian stricken with cancer to entice teenage girls into relationships has been indicted on child pornography charges.

A Baltimore federal grand jury indicted Douglas Patrick, 38, on Thursday for possession of child pornography and coercing minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to produce child pornography.

Federal prosecutors said Patrick pretended to be a cancer-stricken 18-year-old girl on social networking sites, where he solicited the girls to send him pictures of their genitalia.