Austin Pratt, Child Exploitation and Pornography Distribution, New York 2021

A federal court in New York heard the shocking case of Austin Pratt, a 24-year-old man from Syracuse, who has pleaded guilty to charges of Sexual Exploitation of a Child and Distribution of Child Pornography.

According to the indictment, Pratt used the Instagram name 'redneck_pratt' to message with a person who represented themselves to be a 15-year-old girl, but was later confirmed to be an adult male from Nevada.

Pratt admitted to sending sexually explicit images to the 'girl' and producing and sending explicit images of himself with young girls.

He also confessed to sexually abusing a 10-year-old child, producing images and a video of the abuse, and sending them to the person he believed to be a 15-year-old girl.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Syracuse Resident Agency, and the New York State Police as part of the Mid-State Child Exploitation Task Force.

Pratt's guilty plea calls for a sentence of at least 20 years and up to 30 years imprisonment, followed by no less than 20 years supervised release.

He also faces a fine of up to $250,000, will be required to pay restitution to his victim, forfeit the phone he used to produce and send the images and video of the abuse, and will have to register as a sex offender.

Pratt is set to be sentenced by Hon. David N. Hurd in Utica, NY on August 26, 2021.

The case highlights the growing concern of child exploitation and child pornography on the internet.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny/pr/syracuse-man-pleads-guilty-sexual-exploitation-child-and-distribution-child-pornography