Canonsburg Resident Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of Minors and Destruction of Evidence

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A former resident of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court on August 27, 2025, to 240 months in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $28,000 in restitution to his victims for his convictions of violating federal law regarding the sexual exploitation of minors and the destruction of evidence, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan imposed the sentence on Justin Darby, 37.

According to information presented to the Court, on or about October 28, 2021, Darby knowingly altered and destroyed records associated with an instant messaging application on his cellular telephone with the intent to impede and obstruct an investigation of Darby for offenses involving the sexual exploitation of children when agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation attempted to execute a search warrant at the defendant’s residence. Darby additionally was convicted for attempting to induce and inducing a minor to send to him an image of the minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct over a social media application on February 6, 2024. Darby also accepted responsibility for additional offenses involving the sexual exploitation of minors, including the inducement of three other minors to send him visual depictions of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct through text messages and social media applications during 2023 and early 2024.

In imposing the sentence, Judge Ranjan emphasized that the sentence was justified by Darby’s lack of respect for the law and continued pattern of criminal behavior.

Assistant United States Attorney Heidi M. Grogan prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

Acting United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Darby.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ 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 individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.