Chicago, IL – A 27-year-old man from Ohio has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after being convicted of sexually exploiting a Chicago-area teenager he met online.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, Andrew Boltz, of Kenton, Ohio, was found guilty by a federal jury in 2023 on child exploitation and child pornography charges. The sentencing was handed down Friday by U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey in Chicago.
Federal authorities say Boltz began communicating with the then-16-year-old girl in 2020 through Omegle and later used Snapchat and text messaging to maintain contact. Prosecutors alleged that Boltz repeatedly coerced the victim into producing and sending explicit images of herself, and that he directed how the content should appear.
The victim testified during trial, sharing details of being manipulated and degraded by Boltz throughout their interactions.
The investigation involved assistance from multiple agencies, including the FBI’s Chicago and Cleveland field offices, local law enforcement in Illinois and Ohio, and various state and county attorney’s offices. The case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative targeting child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward A. Liva Jr., Elly Moheb, and Kavitha Babu represented the government during the trial and sentencing.
Authorities encourage anyone who may be a victim of sexual exploitation to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at https://www.missingkids.org or call 1-800-843-5678.
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