A Louisville father has been handed a 17-year prison sentence for preying on two Indiana children and coercing them to send him sexually explicit material via Facebook.
Anthony Michael Bentley, 30, of Louisville, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of making false statements to the FBI. Bentley must also pay $10,000 in restitution to the minor victims.
According to court documents, from August 17 to August 22 of 2018, Bentley directed and coerced Minor Victim 1, who was 12 years old at the time, to send him sexually explicit images and videos via Facebook Messenger. Additionally, from January of 2018 through early 2020, Bentley directed and coerced Minor Victim 2, who was 17 years old at the time she met Bentley, to send him sexually explicit videos via Facebook Messenger. In both instances, Bentley sent messages coaching the children on how to take the explicit photos and videos.
Bentley misrepresented his name, image, and age on Facebook to entice the minor victims to communicate with him. He used the alias “Chris Jones” to hide his true identity and used photos of a young man he found online, identified as Individual 1, without his consent. Bentley also sent nude images of Individual 1 to Minor Victim 1 and claimed that they were pictures of himself. Investigators later learned that Individual 1 was a minor in those photographs.
On March 7, 2020, FBI investigators executed a search warrant at Bentley’s residence in Kentucky. At the time, Bentley told officials he did not have any knowledge of the Facebook account belonging to Chris Jones and claimed that he no longer had his old cell phone. However, investigators located the old cell phone under the carpet of a locked safe inside Bentley’s home. The cell phone contained the evidence and photographs of Individual 1 used on the fake Facebook account.
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. U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers said, “This supposed family man posed as an attractive teen boy on Facebook to win the trust of underage girls and entice them to send him sexually explicit material—exploiting children as young as just twelve years old for his own gratification.”
Myers thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Adam J. Eakman and MaryAnn T. Mindrum, who prosecuted this case.
The FBI investigated this case and U.S. Attorney Myers urged caring adults to talk to their children about staying safe online, saying, “Sexual predators know that social media platforms like Facebook are a fertile hunting ground.”
The sentence imposed on Bentley sends a clear message that child sex exploitation will not be tolerated and those who commit such crimes will be held accountable. The public will be safe from him for many years.
Anthony Michael Bentley, 30, of Louisville, was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for enticing two Indiana children to obtain sexually explicit material via Facebook.
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Key Facts
- State: Indiana
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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