Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CHRISTOPHER J. BRERETON, 35, of Fargo, North Dakota, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 37 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for traveling to Connecticut to attempt to engage in sex with a minor.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in January 2020, Brereton began chatting online with a minor female who had an online profile stating she was 18 years old. In February 2020, a law enforcement officer received permission to take over the minor’s account and, in an undercover capacity, the officer informed Brereton of the female’s true age of 15 years old. Brereton continued to chat with the “girl,” discussed engaging in sexual activity with her and made plans to drive to Connecticut meet her for sex.
On March 12, 2020, Brereton began driving from North Dakota and he arrived at a hotel in Meriden the next day. At the hotel, Brereton unpacked lingerie and sexual paraphernalia he had purchased for the planned sexual encounter. He was arrested later that day by New Haven Police on state charges after he drove to a location where he had arranged to meet the “girl.”
Brereton has been detained since his arrest. On July 19, 2021, he pleaded guilty to one count of traveling interstate with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the New Haven Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anastasia E. King.
U.S. Attorney Boyle thanked the New Haven State Attorney’s Office for its assistance in the prosecution of this case.
This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.