BANGOR, Maine: A Pennsylvania man was sentenced in federal court in Bangor today for attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor, U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced.
U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. sentenced Aaron Dyer, 35, to 30 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The defendant pleaded guilty on Dec. 11, 2019.
According to court records, Dyer, using the multimedia messaging application Snapchat, sent images of his genitalia to the internet connected device of a 10-year-old girl living in Maine. Dyer requested in a message accompanying the images that the girl send back nude images of herself. The defendant admitted that he was aware that the intended recipient of his Snapchat message was 10 years old. The images were intercepted by the girl’s mother before they were viewed by the girl.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Maine State Police investigated the case. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
