The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that on October 14, 2022, Deyquan Martin, 21, of Burlington, Vermont, appeared in United States District Court in Burlington for an arraignment on a three-count indictment charging him with enticement of a minor as well as the receipt and possession of child sexual abuse material. Martin had previously appeared before in United States District Court in Burlington on September 23, 2022, and after a detention hearing on September 27, 2022, Martin was released on conditions requiring home detention, location monitoring, and monitored electronics use, among other items.
According to court documents, Martin met a twelve-year old minor through an online video game and, using an online messaging platform, induced the minor to send him sexually explicit photographs and videos of herself. Martin later threatened the minor that he would publish the sexually explicit material already received unless the minor sent him additional sexually explicit photographs and videos of the minor.
On September 22, 2022, Homeland Security Investigations, with the assistance of the Burlington Police Department, Vermont’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the New Jersey State Police, executed a search warrant at Martin’s Burlington residence. In searching Martin’s residence, law enforcement found sexually explicit photographs of the twelve-year old minor as well as child sexual abuse material of another minor on Martin’s computer. Following the search, law enforcement placed Martin under arrest.
If convicted of the charges, Martin would face maximum sentences of up to life imprisonment for enticement of a minor, up to 10 years for receipt of child sexual abuse material, and up to 10 years for possession of child sexual abuse material. Any actual sentence would be determined in consultation with the United States Sentencing Guidelines. The indictment is an accusation only, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The United States Attorney’s Office credited Homeland Security Investigations, Burlington Police Department, Vermont’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the New Jersey State Police for their work and collaboration on this case.
Martin is represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Steven L. Barth. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew C. Gilman represents the United States.
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 Child Exploitation Obscenity Section, Criminal Division (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 www.justice.gov/psc.