John Wilson, Attempted Transfer of Obscene Material to a Minor, Maine 2022

A disturbing trend in child sexual exploitation has left authorities scrambling to keep up. In the past year alone, reports of suspected child sexual exploitation have skyrocketed by 35%.

In Maine, a 36-year-old man has pleaded guilty to attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor. John Wilson, a Standish resident, engaged in inappropriate conversations with at least two minor children using the internet and social media in March 2022.

According to court records, Wilson continued his egregious behavior, engaging in sexually explicit online chat communications with members of a watchdog group posing as underage girls in June 2022. During one particularly disturbing online chat, Wilson sent photographs of his penis and live-streamed a video of himself masturbating to someone he believed to be an 11-year-old girl.

Wilson faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release. His sentencing will be determined after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006.

As the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline received 29.3 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation in 2021, a 35% increase from 2020 and 73% from 2019, it's clear that this is a crisis that requires immediate attention. Victimization can take place across every platform, including social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms, and more.

For those who wish to report suspected child sexual exploitation, the CyberTipline Report can be made by visiting https://report.cybertip.org/.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/pr/standish-man-pleads-guilty-attempted-transfer-obscene-material-minor