New Hartford Man Charged with Child Pornography and Enticement Offenses

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that DANIEL JESSE CONRAD, 31, of New Hartford, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with production and possession of child pornography, and enticing minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct during online video chats and to send him sexually explicit pictures.

CONRAD, who was arrested on August 19, 2014 on related state charges, surrendered to federal authorities yesterday and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam in New Haven.  He was released on a $25,000 bond and electronic monitoring.

According to the criminal complaint, CONRAD’s charges relate to conduct involving three different minor females.  The complaint alleges that CONRAD met one of the minor females in February 2014 through Omegle, an internet video chatting service.  The minor was 15 years old at the time and lived in Connecticut.  After their initial conversation, CONRAD and the minor female began communicating regularly through the Kik text messaging and photo sharing application on their cell phones.  On March 1, 2014, the two met in person, and CONRAD drove the minor to Massachusetts where they engaged in sexual activity.  On five or six occasions between March 1 and June 5, 2014, CONRAD picked up the minor and drove her to his residence where they engaged in sexual intercourse.  During some of the encounters, CONRAD used his iPhone to take photographs of the minor engaged in sexual activity.  CONRAD also persuaded and enticed the minor to take sexually explicit pictures of herself and send them to him via the Kik application.

The complaint also alleges that CONRAD had more than 40 videos of recorded online video webcam sessions between CONRAD and a second minor female, who was also 15 years old and lived in New York.  The videos were created between October 2013 and March 2013 and depict the minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  The complaint further alleges that CONRAD had sexually explicit pictures of a third female, who has not yet been identified but appears to be a minor, saved on his iPhone.

The charge of production of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years, the charge of enticement carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life, and the charge of possession of child pornography carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Connecticut State Police.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.

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.