A Virginia man was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Tuesday after being convicted of coercing children as young as 12 to send him hundreds of sexually-explicit images.
Hunter Royal, 23, used Snapchat to contact the victims, pretending to be a young girl himself. Prosecutors say, based on messages they recovered, that he used four accounts to contact 1,500 individuals for sexual “discussion” or “solicitation” between 2018 and 2019. According to court documents, 250 of those Royal contacted told him they were between the ages of 12 and 17, most of which appear to have been females.
Investigators were able to verify 11 underage victims.
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Royal pleaded guilty in July of last year to one count of persuading, inducing, enticing, and coercing minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct. He was sentenced by the U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia.
According to the Department of Justice, Royal would exchange messages back and forth with the girls, eventually moving the topic toward sexual issues and asking for explicit photos, and eventually using threats to extract more material.
Court documents revealed that in or about July through September 2019, Royal obtained 600 images of minors on his iPhone, depicting one or more minors “engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”
When he was first jailed in September, authorities said Royal asked a family member to log into his Snapchat account and delete its contents. However, a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Virginia revealed, “Royal’s attempt to obstruct justice failed.”
“Royal exploited these minor victims, meeting them online, and is a parent’s worst nightmare,” acting U.S. Attorney Daniel Bubar said in the statement. “This lengthy sentence ought to send a clear message to would-be online predators: your behavior will not be tolerated, and you will be brought to justice.”
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“This individual preyed upon minors, using fear and shame to extort exploitative material. The sentence handed down today reflects the seriousness of this crime,” Special Agent in Charge Raymond Villanueva for Homeland Security Investigations’ Washington, D.C., field office added. “HSI is committed to investigating and seeking prosecution for those who seek to exploit children online.”
