Facebook ‘modeling agency’ was a trap used by Springfield man to control women

Using social media, a Springfield man posed as an adult modeling company, tricking women into providing explicit images and using those images to control them, federal officials said.

Bairon Ubeda, 45, was convicted by a federal jury of one count of possession of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of sexual exploitation of children in August. On Monday, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release.

The fraud started more than a decade ago.

Two Holyoke women testified in 2019 that they responded to solicitations via Facebook messaging for modeling work. They both submitted nude pictures of themselves to a person named “Crystal” and were told to meet with Ubeda. They said Ubeda threatened to distribute the nude photos if