This week, a Maricopa County Judge sentenced Devon Ray Sharma to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, a class two felony, one count of sex trafficking, a class two dangerous felony, and one count of pandering, a class five felony.
Sharma’s sentence is to be served in the Arizona Department of Corrections. The sentence is the maximum possible under the plea agreement and includes lifetime probation after release. Upon release, Sharma will be required to register as a sex offender.
Sharma is considered a prolific offender who would convince his victims to send him sexually exploitative images under false premises of being movie producer or a female. Sharma would then extort the women to pay him or have coercive sex with him in exchange for not destroying their lives by sending the images to family and friends or posting on the internet for massive distribution. The crimes were committed between December 2016 through June 2020 and were investigated by the Chandler Police Department.
“Young women and teenagers can be easily exploited by internet predators. It takes courage for victims of these crimes to come forward and the bravery demonstrated by the victims in this case has prevented future acts of exploitation by this individual,” said County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is committed to helping keep families and communities safe beyond the courtroom. It’s a priority of our office to help educate residents of Maricopa County on the issues that affect families the most. Visit www.maricopacountyattorney.org/families to learn more about internet safety and other ways to keep you and your family safe.