National
Sex offender admits to sextortion of over 40 girls as young as 11 in Minnesota, feds say
A Minnesota sex offender accused of “sextortion” of more than 40 girls was sentenced to decades in prison, federal prosecutors say.
Dylan Deling, 21, pleaded guilty last year to charges of child pornography and interstate communication with intent to extort, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.
Deling used text messages and social media platforms, including Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Kik and Skype, in the sextortion scheme against girls between the ages of 11 and 17, prosecutors say.
Using different usernames and accounts, Deling offered compliments and affection to persuade girls to share sexually explicit images, prosecutors say. He threatened to share and did disseminate the images to their friends and families if the girls refused to provide images, prosecutors say.
He’s accused of threatening to send his “associates” to kidnap, rape and kill the girls or loved ones — showing them screenshots of maps to their homes and contact information.
“This defendant’s victimization went beyond sexual exploitation; his ultimate goal was to instill fear and humiliation,” U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald said in a news release. “This type of depraved criminal behavior will not be tolerated.”
Deling was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Monday.
During the scheme, Deling was on probation for a child pornography conviction in 2018 that required him to register as a sex offender, according to court records.