West Hartford Man Charged With Using The Internet To Distribute Obscene Materials To A Minor

BOSTON – A West Hartford man was charged in U.S. District Court in Worcester yesterday with sending obscene images to a 14-year-old boy over the Internet.

Herbert Lawrence Jenkins, 45, was indicted for transferring obscene materials to a minor. An affidavit in support of Jenkins’ arrest, previously unsealed, alleges that in July 2013, after chatting with the victim for several months, Jenkins sent four photographs of his genitals to a 14-year-old boy in Bolton, Mass. while graphically describing sexual acts that he wished to perform with the boy. The affidavit further alleges that approximately one week before this occurred Jenkins had traveled from his home in West Hartford to the boy’s residence in Bolton.

Jenkins’ communications were discovered when a sibling of the victim discovered the chats on the victim’s iPhone and brought them to the attention of the victim’s parents.

If convicted, Jenkins faces a statutory maximum term of 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. The case is being prosecuted by Mark J. Grady of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.