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Scott David Cohen, 39, of Stratford, was arrested on Friday, Oct. 25 and charged by federal criminal complaint with multiple child sexual exploitation offenses, John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Brian C. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced.
In a 23-page indictment, earlier this month, it is alleged that Cohen, using the username “drpinstripe13,” began communicating on Instagram with an individual whom he believed was a 15-year-old girl.
In numerous chat conversations, Cohen expressed in graphic detail his desire to engage in sexual activity with the “minor,” the indictment says. Cohen described a variety of sexual activities he wanted to have with the minor and sent her sexually explicit images of himself.
The indictment further alleges that the minor told Cohen that she lived out of state and had plans to travel to New York to visit a relative. Cohen, has a practice in Trumbull, expressed a willingness to reschedule patients at his dental practice in order to meet the girl.
Cohen was arrested Friday afternoon after he traveled to the Stratford train station to meet the “girl.” Cohen's Instagram profile reads: "Divorced w 2 kids, 30 something ex LT US navy, 4 yrs attached to USMC, currently a dentist in tristate area."
Following his arrest, Cohen appeared before United States Magistrate Judge William I. Garfinkel in Bridgeport and was ordered detained pending a detention hearing that is not yet scheduled,
The complaint charges Cohen with enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, transfer of obscene material to minors, and sexual exploitation of children.
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Connecticut Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria del Pilar Gonzalez.
This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.
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