PHILADELPHIA – In a shocking case of child exploitation, Patrick Knauss, a 35-year-old Vermont man, has been sentenced to 265 months’ imprisonment, 15 years of supervised release, $3,000 in restitution, and a $300 special assessment for child pornography offenses.
The sentencing comes after a lengthy investigation by the FBI and the Vermont Attorney General’s Office. Knauss was charged by indictment in February of this year with one count each of conspiracy to manufacture child pornography, conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography, and receipt of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to all three charges in June.
According to court documents, Knauss, along with his co-conspirators, Andrew Wolf and Kray Strange, operated an elaborate online child exploitation catfishing scheme to entice minor boys to self-produce sexually explicit images and send them to the defendants over the internet. The scheme, which lasted over two years, targeted boys with large social media followings, as well as dozens of Wolf’s own middle school students.
Wolf, a former middle school teacher at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia, and Strange, a young adult living in Carthage, New York, both pleaded guilty to the catfishing scheme in June of 2022. On February 16, 2023, Wolf was sentenced to 466 months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release. On March 31, 2023, Strange was sentenced to 396 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by lifetime supervised release. They were ordered to pay a total of $324,320 in restitution to six minor victims who sought restitution.
U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero stated, “For more than two years, Patrick Knauss took part in a scheme that victimized dozens of children. Knauss not only encouraged his co-conspirator, teacher Andrew Wolf, to catfish his own students, he even suggested some strategies for doing so. Know that my office and the FBI will never stop working to hold predators like this accountable and protect our children from sexual exploitation.”
Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia, added, “The online exploitation of children is one of the most egregious crimes the FBI investigates. This sentencing underscores that FBI and our partners are committed to safeguarding children and ensuring that those who harm them will face consequences.”
The case 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 by the Department of Justice. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelly Harrell. Knauss’s sentencing serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of online child exploitation and the importance of holding perpetrators accountable for their crimes.
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Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: Sex Crimes|Cybercrime|Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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