A Tolleson, Arizona, man was sentenced yesterday to 30 years in prison for production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
According to court documents, Ethan Roberts, 28, met a then 14-year-old juvenile online in January 2022. The juvenile lived in Norfolk. Roberts engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the minor for a seven-month period, repeatedly asking her to create and send sexually explicit images of herself to him.
In August 2022, Roberts traveled by bus from Arizona to Norfolk. He picked up the minor and the pair traveled back to Roberts’ apartment in Arizona. While in Arizona, the juvenile logged into her online gaming account. The juvenile’s friend noticed her online, and informed law enforcement. Using the information from her online gaming account, the FBI was able to locate and rescue the juvenile from Roberts’ apartment.
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 U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
In 2021, EDVA launched “UnMasked,” a community-based educational outreach and prevention program in Virginia dedicated to raising awareness and educating the community about the prevalence of online sexual exploitation involving children and young adults. UnMasked is a multi-disciplinary partnership of local, state, federal, and non-profit stakeholders. The core curriculum is provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) NetSmartz program. To report an incident involving online sexual exploitation, call 1-800-843-5678 or submit a report at report.cybertip.org. To request an UnMasked event at your school or organization, please contact EDVA’s Community Outreach Coordinator at [email protected].
