Arkansas man arrested, charged with enticing a minor in West Seneca

BUFFALO, N.Y.- U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Brayden Storey, 21, of West Fork, Arkansas, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with enticement of a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maeve E. Huggins, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, on  June 13, 2024, the West Seneca Police Department received a report from a minor victim of an incident involving an individual that she met online. The victim said that Storey first contacted her on Instagram in September 2022, when she was 13 years-old and he was 19 years-old. He also communicated with the minor victim through the social media platform Discord and text message. Between September 2022, and September 2023, they talked about video games and anime shows. At times, Storey made sexual comments, but in October 2023, the sexual communications that Storey sent to the minor victim significantly increased. Storey sent the minor victim a nude image of himself and repeatedly asked her to send him sexually explicit images. Between October 2023, and March 2024, Storey and the minor victim exchanged sexually explicit images.

In March 2024, the minor victim blocked Storey on all social media applications. As a result, he created another Instagram account to contact her. In April 2024, Storey called the minor victim approximately 50 times in a two-day span, but she did not answer the calls and blocked Storey’s phone number so that he could not contact her. In May 2024, Storey sent the minor victim a four-page letter in the mail at her residence, writing about his suicidal ideations and his desire to be in a relationship with her, regardless of their age difference. Along with the letter, Storey provided a lock of his hair. a search of the minor victim’s phone recovered nude images of Storey and child pornography.

Storey made an initial appearance in the Western District of Arkansas and was detained. He will be returned to the Western District of New York at a later date.

The complaint is the result of an investigation by the West Seneca Police Department, under the direction of Chief Brian Cosgrove, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia. Additional assistance was provided by the Little Rock Office of the FBI, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, the Arkansas State Police, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Still, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Arkansas.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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