A 28-year-old Lihue man is facing a federal criminal charge after he allegedly trafficked in child pornography, posed as a teenage boy on Snapchat and tried to collect sexually explicit photos from “hundreds” of underage girls.

Desmond Micah Alao, aka “Jaykob,” was charged Aug. 19 in a 14-page criminal complaint with a single count of possession of child pornography.

Alao submitted to detention Monday and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Sept. 8 at 10:30 a.m. before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield. Mansfield granted the U.S. Department of Justice’s motion to detain Alao without bail at the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu.

In March, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Honolulu field office got an online tip via the FBI National Threat Operations Center about t

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