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Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that BRIAN REED was sentenced to 15 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Phillip M. Halpern for attempted enticement of a minor. The sentencing today followed REED’s guilty plea on October 23, 2023.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Brian Reed’s actions demonstrate the depths of depravity and danger potentially lurking in the digital realm that connects us all. Let this sentencing serve as a reminder that this Office will harness every tool at our disposal to hold accountable those who prey on and exploit our youth.”
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in related court proceedings:
On May 26, 2022, an investigator with the Rockland County’s District Attorney’s Office (“Investigator-1), who was working in an undercover capacity and posing as a 13-year-old girl on an online platform, engaged in text communications with REED. Investigator-1 told REED that she was 13 years old. During the communications, REED requested sexually explicit photos of Investigator-1 and asked her to meet with him to have sex. REED described the sexual things he wanted to do to Investigator-1 and, when she asked if he was “ok w my age,” REED responded, “Yes of course.” REED made a plan to meet Investigator-1 on the evening of May 26, 2022, in Rockland County, New York. That morning, REED told her, “Im going to make you moan so loud you are going to feel amazing” and instructed, “You should wear something thats easy to take off.”
On May 26, 2022, REED drove from New Jersey to Rockland County to have sex with the purported 13-year-old. When he arrived at the designated meeting location, he was arrested.
Previously, on October 17, 2016, REED was convicted in Morris County Superior Court in New Jersey of endangering the welfare of a child through sexual conduct. As a result of this conviction, on February 17, 2017, REED was sentenced to three years in prison and required to register as a sex offender.
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In addition to the prison term, REED, 36, of Franklin, New Jersey, was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release.
Mr. Williams praised the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Rockland County Sherriff’s Office, the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, the Clarkstown Police Department, and the Orangetown Police Department in connection with this investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia S. Cohen is in charge of the prosecution.
Nicholas Biase, Lauren Scarff
(212) 637-2600