BOSTON – A Maine man pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with enticing minors to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
Dillan Letellier, 32, of Saco, Maine, pleaded guilty to two counts of coercion and enticement of a minor, one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, three counts of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, and one count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr., scheduled sentencing for March 27, 2017.
Letellier admitted to pretending to be a seventeen-year-old when he met two fourteen-year-old victims over the internet, coercing and enticing each victim to meet with him. On separate occasions, Letellier traveled from Maine to each of the victims’ Massachusetts towns, met each minor victim, and brought the victims to locations in Massachusetts where they engaged in sexual intercourse. Following an investigation by law enforcement officers, Letellier was charged by criminal complaint and arrested on Oct. 3, 2013. A forensic exam of the electronic devices seized from defendant’s residence revealed thousands of child pornographic images and videos.
The charges of coercion and enticement and attempted coercion and enticement each provide for a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and no greater than life, a mandatory minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct provides for a sentence of no greater than 30 years in prison, a mandatory minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison; a mandatory minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement. The Saco Police Department and municipal police departments where the victims reside assisted with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus and Anne Paruti of Ortiz's Major Crimes Unit are prosecuting the case.
The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’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, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.