Former New York Man Pleads Guilty to Traveling to New Hampshire to Sexually Assault a Minor

CONCORD - A former New York man pleaded guilty in federal court to traveling to New Hampshire to sexually assault a child survivor, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.

Blake Hall, 21, formerly of New York, pleaded guilty to travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Barbadoro scheduled sentencing for January 14, 2025.

In July of 2022, Hall traveled from his then-home in New York to New Hampshire to meet a 12-year-old girl with whom he had been corresponding on social media. Hall transported the child from New Hampshire to his home in New York, where he engaged her in illegal sexual activity. He also took sexually explicit photographs of the child. Hall returned her home to New Hampshire the following day.

The charging statute provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, at least 5 years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by the New Hampshire State Police, the Troy New Hampshire Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations- Albany. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kasey Weiland is prosecuting the case.

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 the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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