New York Man Sentenced to 6 Years for Transporting Maine Minor Across State Lines for Illegal Sexual Activity

PORTLAND, Maine: A New York man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland for transporting a Maine teenager across state lines with the intent to engage in unlawful sexual activity.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen sentenced Tyler Streeter, 28, to six years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

According to court records, in late 2020, Streeter contacted a 16-year-old girl on Instagram and TikTok and began a months-long interaction with her online. At the time, Streeter resided in Norwich, New York, and the victim lived in Maine. Streeter groomed the victim by repeatedly telling her that she was attractive and that he loved her and wanted to marry her. He also sent graphic messages in which he expressed his interest in having sex with her. In April 2021, Streeter traveled to Maine with the intent to pick up the victim and take her back to New York. The victim's father unsuccessfully attempted to stop Streeter and the girl from leaving, and an AMBER alert was issued. The victim was recovered from a residence in Syracuse, New York and returned to Maine the following day.

Street is a registered sex offender following a 2017 conviction in New York for sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Oxford County Sheriff's Office investigated the case.

Online enticement is increasing: The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) reported an alarming 97.5% increase in online enticement reports between 2019 and 2020. "Online enticement" involves an individual communicating with someone believed to be a child via the internet with the intent to commit a sexual offense or abduction. This type of victimization takes place across every platform, including social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms, etc. Learn more about online enticement, including red flags and risk factors, at https://www.missingkids.org/theissues/onlineenticement.

Project Safe Childhood: This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.

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