John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Michael Shea, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Boston, announced that DYLAN KOERNER, 29, of New Britain, formerly of West Hartford, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today to one count of distribution of child pornography.
Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the court proceeding before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton occurred via videoconference.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between July 2019 and October 2019, Koerner used a false identity and posed as a teenager on Kik, an internet mobile application, to solicit child pornography from Kik users who he believed to be minor females. He also distributed images and videos of child pornography to other Kik users.
Analysis of Koerner’s cell phone and an external hard drive seized from him in October 2019 revealed approximately 121 unique images and nine unique videos depicting child pornography.
Judge Arterton scheduled sentencing for December 14, 2020, at which time Koerner faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
Koerner is released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.
This matter is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford.
This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.
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