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Hartford County resident Justin McKenney, of Windsor Locks, has been charged in a federal criminal complaint with multiple child exploitation offenses following his arrest on Thursday, March 17 at his workplace in Boston.
US Attorney Leonard Boyle said that beginning in October 2021, Glastonbury Police began investigating the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl by an individual she met on Snapchat.
The investigation revealed that McKenney, posing as a high school student and using the Snapchat username “keepingupg,” allegedly began communicating with the minor victim in September 2021, and he subsequently enticed her to engage in sexual activity.
According to court documents, between October 2021 and February 2022, McKenney allegedly used Snapchat to engage in sexually explicit communications with at least six other minors in other states.
McKenney allegedly sent sexually explicit messages, and sexually explicit images and videos of himself, to his minor victims, and he received sexually explicit images and videos from other teens.
Specifically, McKenney was charged with:
- Enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity;
- Receipt of child pornography;
- Possession of child pornography;
- Transfer of obscene material to a minor.
If convicted, McKenney faces up to life in prison on the top charge. No return court date has been announced.
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