Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal grand jury sitting in New Haven has returned an indictment charging ADAM M. SIMPSON, 28, a former member of the U.S. Navy who was stationed in New London, with enticing minors to perform sexually explicit acts during online video chats, and receipt and possession of child pornography. The indictment was returned on March 24, 2015, and SIMPSON was arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith in Hartford.

According to the indictment, between approximately January 2013 and November 2013, SIMPSON engaged in video chats with minors using online video chatting services such as Skype and Omegle. During these video chats, SIMPSON enticed the minors to perform sexual acts and engage in sexually explicit conduct, which SIMPSON recorded, saved on his computer, and then shared with others. In order to deceive and entice the minors, SIMPSON sometimes posed as a young boy. He also coerced minors to perform more sexual acts for him by threatening to publicly release their sexually explicit videos. In addition, the indictment alleges that SIMPSON possessed a collection of child pornography, which he downloaded over the Internet onto his computer. SIMPSON has been detained since his arrest on related state charges on January 7, 2014.

If convicted of the charge of enticement, SIMPSON faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life. The charge of receipt of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and the charge of possession of child pornography carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Connecticut State Police Computer Crimes Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Connecticut Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service also provided critical assistance in this investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.