Dover Man Sentenced for Enticement of a Minor

DOJ Press

WILMINGTON, Del. – David C. Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced today that Bruce M. Jarvela, III, 25, of Dover, was sentenced on June 21, 2022, to 15 years in federal prison followed by 10 years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Richard G. Andrews pronounced the sentence.

Jarvela pled guilty to one count of Enticement of a Minor to Produce Child Pornography on October 18, 2021.

According to publicly filed documents and statements made in open court, Jarvela used social media to lie about his identity and offer money in exchange for pornography—though he never paid. Jarvela got pornography from dozens of adult women. He also got pornography from three known minor females—two of whom were younger than 15. He enticed these minors into creating videos of themselves performing humiliating sexual conduct. When one of these minors decided she had had enough, Jarvela contacted her via text message, threatened her, and tried to coerce her into making more pornography.

Commenting on the case, U.S. Attorney Weiss stated, “Use of technology and social media is ubiquitous among today’s young people. While much good can come from such interconnection, dangerous predators exploit this environment. We are committed to prosecuting unscrupulous adults who victimize children to obtain child pornography. I urge parents and children alike to be wary of sharing information with on-line strangers to avoid falling prey to individuals like the defendant.”


“Jarvela used social media to exploit and extort young people, even going so far as to threaten those who refused him. With this sentence, Jarvela is off the streets, no longer able to prey on others. HSI is committed to uncovering online predators and, with our partners, we’re working tirelessly to make the internet a safer place for children,” said William S. Walker, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations, Philadelphia.


Homeland Security Investigations, the Delaware Child Predator Task Force, and the Caroline County, Maryland Sheriff’s Office investigated this case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham L. Robinson of the District of Delaware.

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 U.S. Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice, 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 www.justice.gov/psc.

You appear to be using an ad blocker

Shore News Network is a free website that does not use paywalls or charge for access to original, breaking news content. In order to provide this free service, we rely on advertisements. Please support our journalism by disabling your ad blocker for this website.