Press Release
Ohio Man Pleads Guilty to Child Exploitation Crime
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of West Virginia
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Aaron Andrew Dement, 43, of Munroe Falls, Ohio, pleaded guilty today to attempted enticement of a minor.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on August 16, 2021, Dement used a dating-chat website to contact an individual he believed to be a minor female. Dement admitted to sending the minor female a photo of his genitals and a video of himself engaging in sexual activity. Dement also asked the minor female to send him a photo of her genitalia.
On October 2, 2021, Dement contacted the minor female again and asked her to send him a sexually explicit photo of herself and a sexually explicit voice message. Dement sent the minor female another sexually explicit video of himself. Dement further admitted that from October 7, 2021 until December 13, 2021, he continued to attempt to persuade, induce, entice or coerce the minor child to engage in sexual activity while sending her sexually explicit images of himself, through online chats and text messages.
Dement is scheduled to be sentenced on January 19, 2023, and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Dement must also register as a sex offender.
United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Violent Crime Against Children (VCAC) Task Force.
United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Kristin F. Scott is prosecuting the case.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case Nos. 2:22-cr-20 and 2:22-cr-199.
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Updated October 27, 2022
Topic
Project Safe Childhood
Component