Canadian national admits to attempted coercion and enticement, distribution of child pornography

BILLINGS - A Canadian national accused of driving to Billings from Canada believing he was going to meet a juvenile girl for sex admitted today to attempted coercion and child pornography crimes, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

The defendant, Andrew Scott Brown, 43, of Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada, pleaded guilty to attempted coercion and enticement and distribution of child pornography. Brown faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years to life of supervised release on the attempted coercion charge and a mandatory minimum of five years to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release on the distribution of child pornography charge.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan presided. A sentencing date will be set before U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Brown was detained pending further proceedings.

In court documents, the government alleged that on Jan. 27, law enforcement, acting in an undercover capacity as a 12-year-old child, posted on social media. Brown responded to the post. The undercover informed Brown that he was chatting with a 12-year-old juvenile, and Brown responded that he could get into a lot of trouble. Over the next several weeks, Brown chatted with the undercover, and the messages were consistently sexual in nature. Brown indicted a desire to get the juvenile girl pregnant, how they were going to end up having sex and that he will go to jail. Brown also sent the undercover a picture of his penis and a video depicting a child being sexually assaulted by an adult man. On May 6, Brown drove from Canada to Billings with the belief he was going to meet the juvenile girl for sex and messaged along the way. Law enforcement arrested Brown when he arrived in Billings.

The U.S. Attorney's Office is prosecuting the case. The Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office, Billings Police Department and the FBI conducted the investigation.

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 U.S. Attorneys' Offices and 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 Justice.gov/PSC.

XXX