SALT LAKE CITY- Yesterday, August 24, 2022, in the U.S. District Court, District of Utah, Landon Germaine, 24, of Woods Cross, pled guilty in two federal child exploitation cases arising out of the District of Utah and the Western District of Arkansas. In the District of Utah case, Germaine pled guilty to felony interstate coercion and enticement of a minor. In the Western District of Arkansas case, Germaine pled guilty to attempted sexual exploitation via production of child pornography.
According to the criminal complaint and law enforcement affidavit filed by federal prosecutors, Germaine utilized social media and cellular applications such as Kik, Telegram, periscope, snapchat, and text messaging, to solicit graphic sexual photos and videos from minor children. A review of Germaine’s electronic devices contained evidence of chats on various applications with numerous female children under eighteen years of age, and some chats with children as young as eleven years old. In these chats, Germaine provided specific instructions on what the minors should depict in the photos and videos and Germaine repeatedly offered to pay the minors money for sending him sexually explicit videos.
The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys from the District of Utah, the Western District of Arkansas, and Attorneys from the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. The cases were investigated by Special Agents from the FBI and officers and detectives from the Woods Cross Police Department, the Bentonville Police Department, the Rogers Police Department, and law enforcement officials from 14 additional U.S. judicial districts.
Sentencing in these matters is set for January 5, 2023.