A Connecticut man traveled to Maine to have sex with a minor. Now he’s going to prison.
A Connecticut man was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison in U.S. District Court for traveling to Maine to have sex with a minor, according to federal authorities.
Devin Melycher, 30, of Brookfield, was sentenced to a total of 135 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release, according to federal authorities. Melycher pleaded guilty on June 1, 2022.
Melycher drove from his home in Connecticut to Gorham, Maine to “engage in sexual conduct with the minor victim” after weeks of contact between him and the victim over Snapchat and other platforms during which Melycher “pressured the victim to send sexually explicit images despite knowing the victim was only 13,” federal authorities said in a statement.
Homeland Security Investigations and the Gorham Police Department investigated the case, the statement said.
“The evidence in this case showed that Devin Melycher is a sexual predator who indiscriminately distributed pornographic images of his body across chat platforms without regard to who received them or whether or not they were of legal age in an attempt to interact with them,” U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee said, also in the statement. “He preyed upon minors, groomed them, and in the case of this victim, traveled to engage in illegal sexual acts despite knowing the victim was only 13.”
McElwee said, “The internet opens up the world to our children, but it also exposes them to the world at a time when they may not be mature enough to understand or handle to consequences.
“Predators are increasingly using social media, apps and gaming platforms to find and access victims, and the consequences can be lifechanging and tragic. Parents should remain vigilant and talk to their kids – often and repeatedly – about online safety, including why they should never engage online in any way with someone that they haven’t met in real life,” McElwee said. ”It is so important that they know that images they share never really go away online and that they can and should confide in an adult they trust if anyone online ever says or does anything that makes them uncomfortable.”
