Columbia Woman Who Coerced Minor Boy to Engage in Sexual Activity Pleads Guilty

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ALYSON CRANICK, 44, of Columbia, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Cranick, first using text messaging and Snapchat, and then using the internet chat service Discord, coerced an 11-year-old boy to engage in sexually explicit conduct with her.  Several times during the summer and into the fall of 2022, Cranick induced the minor victim to leave his house after midnight to meet up with her.  Cranick sexually assaulted the minor victim during these meetings.

Between July and October 2022, Cranick exchanged more than 4,700 messages with the minor victim on Discord.

Cranick was arrested on related state charges on November 14, 2023, and has been detained since November 28, 2023.  She was federally charged in July 2024.

Judge Dooley scheduled sentencing for February 12, at which time Cranick faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life.

This matter has been investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force and the Connecticut State Police’s Eastern District Major Crime Unit.  The FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force includes federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel E. Cummings and Katherine E. Boyles through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.

U.S. Attorney Sullivan thanked the State’s Attorney’s Office for the Judicial District of Tolland for its close cooperation in investigating and prosecuting this matter.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.