Standish Man Sentenced to 3+ Years for Attempted Transfer of Obscene Material to a Minor

Press Release

John Wilson engaged in sexually explicit online chats with minors

PORTLAND, Maine: A Standish man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland for attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen sentenced John Wilson, 36, to 40 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Wilson pleaded guilty on January 30, 2023.

According to court records, in March 2022, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office received reports that an individual later identified as Wilson had engaged in inappropriate conversations with at least two minor children using the internet and social media. In June 2022, Wilson engaged in sexually explicit online chats with members of a watchdog group posing as underage girls. During one sexually explicit chat, Wilson sent photographs of his penis and live-streamed a video of himself masturbating to someone he believed to be an 11-year-old girl.

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

Online enticement is increasing: The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) reported an alarming increase in online enticement reports between 2020 and 2022, with reports more than doubling. "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. If you are in Maine and you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted or abused, you can get help by calling the free, private 24-hour statewide sexual assault helpline at 1-800-871-7741.

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, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/psc.

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Updated April 26, 2024