Baby Scumbag Arrested For Sex Abuse: YouTube Teen Star Used Fame To Sexually Exploit Underage Girl, Police Say

YouTube star Baby Scumbag, né Steven Fernandez, was arrested recently in Los Angeles on charges of using his fame to sexually exploit an underage girl. Police announced Thursday that 15-year-old Fernandez, as well as his manager Jose Barajas, 22, and colleague Keelan Lamar Dadd, 27, were charged with carrying out lewd and lascivious acts with a person under the age of 14. Though Steven himself is a minor, authorities released his identity because of the nature of the allegations, according to a news release.

“Fernandez and his buddies used his fame and brand to sexually exploit the very girls who made the men rich and famous,” Detective Ninette Toosbuy said. “We’re taking exceptional measures to find additional victims because the fate of some young lives may be at stake.”

Police said Steven, who has more than 700,000 subscribers on his skateboarding YouTube channel, lured a 12-year-old girl into a car and persuaded her to perform sexual acts on him, Barajas and Dadd Nov. 13. Steven allegedly told her he'd help her meet celebrities and appear on a TV show.

Steven and Barajas were arrested four days later in a sting when undercover detectives exchanged text messages with them to set up a time to meet and have sex at an abandoned location, according to the news release. Dadd turned himself in afterward. The adults have since been bailed out of jail, and police released Fernandez into his mother's custody with an ankle bracelet.

Steven tweeted Wednesday he felt like he was "letting so many down."

But Karen Todd, the mother of Steven's friend Daniel, told CBS Los Angeles she didn't think Dadd and the YouTube star were guilty. "I know both of them and I think neither one of them are capable of even thinking about doing something like that ever,” she said.

Steven's case wasn't YouTube's first run-in with sex abuse. The site experienced another scandal last year when stars Tom Milsom and Alex Day were accused of manipulating young fans into sexually and emotionally abusive relationships, the Daily Dot reported. "This kind of activity is not OK, and we need to help other people in positions of influence or power understand that," Day wrote at the time.