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Chad Michael Lehofer, 37, of Fredericksburg, was hit with a 19 year federal prison sentence for production and possession of child sexual abuse materials, authorities announced following an investigation into the predator.
The terrifying tale began in December 2018 and lasted through at least April 2019, when Lehofer repeatedly engaged in sexually explicit discussions with a minor online, then enticed and coerced the child to send him sexually illicit materials.
He then blackmailed the juvenile.
According to Homeland Security Investigators, after the minor attempted to break off contact with him, Lehofer posed as a different person to continue the conversation online.
Prosecutors say that he then began sending threatening messages to the child, stating that if more sexually explicit videos were not sent, he would expose the minor to others, including family and friends.
That was only the beginning of Lehofer’s terrorizing behavior.
Lehofer then claimed to be watching the minor’s home and would send messages indicating that he knew the juvenile’s location and would be waiting in front of the house.
In response, the minor agreed to produce a video to Lehofer.
Once Lehofer was identified as the child predator involved in the case, a search warrant led to the seizure of his cell phone, which had multiple images and videos of child sexual abuse materials involving prepubescent minors.
Officials noted that Lehofer was previously convicted in Connecticut in 2006 on charges for sexually abusing two minors there.
“Chad Lehofer is a habitual child sex offender, and no community is safe with him on the streets,” Special Agent in Charge Derek Gordon of the Homeland Security Investigations in Washington, DC said. “He has been convicted of sex crimes against minors in two states, and he is well deserving of the sentence he received.”
In addition to his prison term, Lehofer was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release.
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