Jason Hanif Rehman, a 40-year-old resident of Rockville, Maryland, has been sentenced to 168 months in federal prison. The sentencing took place in U.S. District Court following his conviction for coercing a minor to send sexually explicit images over the internet.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, Assistant Director Steven J. Jensen of the FBI Washington Field Office, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Rehman entered a guilty plea on November 21, 2024, to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor. In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Carl J. Nichols mandated that Rehman serve ten years of supervised release and register as a sex offender.
Court documents reveal that in October and November 2018, Rehman communicated with a 15-year-old girl via Snapchat. He instructed her to produce and send him child sexual abuse material while also sending her explicit photos of himself. Over five weeks, he coerced the victim into sending more material and traveled from Maryland and Washington D.C. to Virginia on at least two occasions to engage in sexual activity with her.
A fellow student alerted school officials about the victim's interactions with an adult male, leading investigators to identify Rehman as the perpetrator. Other minors at the school reported receiving similar explicit messages from him via Snapchat. Upon being located by investigators, Rehman confessed to using Snapchat to contact the victim despite knowing she was underage and admitted convincing her to send explicit photos as well as having sexual intercourse with her.
The case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force alongside the Fairfax County Police Department. This task force includes FBI agents along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and D.C., focusing on investigating child exploitation and human trafficking cases. The prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline Burrell for D.C., with Trial Attorney Angelica Carrasco from the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse through coordinated efforts across federal, state, and local levels.
For further information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.
