Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, along with Robert Fuller, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s New Haven Division, and Connecticut State Police Colonel Daniel Loughman, announced today that Alyson Cranick, 43, of Columbia, has been charged with enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity.
Cranick is scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday at 10:00 AM in New Haven. She was arrested on related state charges on November 14, 2023, and detained in state custody since November 28, 2023.
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According to court documents, Cranick allegedly used text messaging, Snapchat, and the internet chat service Discord to entice an 11-year-old boy into sexually explicit conduct. The minor victim reportedly sneaked out of his house several times during the summer of 2022 to meet Cranick for sexual activity. Between July and October 2022, Cranick and the minor exchanged over 4,700 messages on Discord.
The charge of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life.
U.S. Attorney Avery emphasized that a complaint is merely an allegation and not proof of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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The FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force and the Connecticut State Police’s Eastern District Major Crime Unit are investigating this case. The FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force comprises federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel E. Cummings is prosecuting the case under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which aims to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation.
U.S. Attorney Avery thanked the State’s Attorney’s Office for the Judicial District of Tolland for its close cooperation in investigating and prosecuting this matter.
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