McLaughlin pleads guilty to five counts of child pornography
Caleb Vincent McLaughlin, age 26, of Pine City, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, October 11 in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis before Chief Judge Patrick J. Schlitz to five counts of producing, receiving, and distributing images of child pornography and coercing and enticing minors to engage in illegal sexual activity.
According to court documents, McLaughlin allegedly used multiple social media accounts to solicit at least 14 minor girls in Minnesota to send him sexually explicit images and videos.
McLaughlin used a variety of aliases on Snapchat including “Jake Benson”, “Lift 11” and “Tech4cm”. He often claimed to be 17 years old. In some occasions he would offer drugs, alcohol, cash and gift cards in exchange for sexual acts, videos or photos according to the press release from the Department of Justice in July of this year.
According to a report from Fox News, “Prosecutors say McLaughlin began his scheme in January 2019 and believe there are a number of girls in Minnesota, North Dakota and elsewhere that have yet to be identified.”
Law enforcement is still working to identify any other victims. They ask if you believe you or your minor dependent have been victimized by McLaughlin, to contact the FBI Tip Line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or go to tips.fbi.gov.
According to the court documents, there were at least 14 minor girls between the ages of 11 and 16 years old in Minnesota.
On July 17, 2023, McLaughlin was charged in a federal criminal complaint with soliciting, producing, receiving, and distributing images of child pornography, and enticing a child to engage in illegal sexual activity.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 13, 2024.
Again, 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. It is led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 http://www.justice.gov/psc.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, with substantial assistance from the St. Paul Police Department, Pine County Sheriff’s Office, and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.