Kyle D. Lawrence, 43, of Buffalo, New York, pleaded guilty in federal court in Cincinnati on July 28 to transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Transporting a minor with the intent to engage in sexual activity carries a mandatory minimum sentence of at least 10 years in prison.
According to court documents, Colerain Township police began investigating a missing teenager on Feb. 16. Video surveillance from the minor’s home showed that in January, the teenager entered a black Jeep Grand Cherokee with New York license plates. License plate readers and receipts confirmed that Lawrence rented the vehicle and stayed at a Cincinnati hotel with the minor on Jan. 31.
Authorities discovered that Lawrence was previously reported to the FBI in May 2024 after being confronted by a citizen vigilante group while traveling in Canada for allegedly attempting to have sexual contact with someone he believed was a 15-year-old girl. Agents from Buffalo had been in contact with Lawrence following this report.
Further investigation by the FBI uncovered two cyber tip reports submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding child exploitation activity associated with Lawrence’s Snapchat account. On Feb. 26, FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at his residence and seized several electronic devices containing child sexual abuse material.
Court documents indicate that Lawrence told agents he communicated with the Colerain minor via Snapchat and traveled twice to Cincinnati in January specifically to meet her. He used Snapchat location services when picking up the minor.
The guilty plea was announced by Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jason Cromartie, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; Colerain Township Police Chief Edwin C. Cordie III; and Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson, before U.S. District Judge Matthew W. McFarland.
The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse through coordination among federal, state, and local agencies.