Registered Sex Offender Enters Guilty Plea In “Sextortion” Case

United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced the guilty plea of DYLAN MATTHEW DELING, a/k/a “Jason Keens,” a/k/a “Dylan Nash,” 20, to one count of production of child pornography and one count of extortion. DELING entered his guilty plea today before Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“Young people are faced with online threats and abuse unlike ever before. Sadly, law enforcement is seeing an increase in these types of cases– the sly tactics, the coercion, the threats, are all tools employed by online predators such as Mr. Deling,” said U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald. “Our stance is aggressive when it comes to the investigation and prosecution of these cases and we will remain proactive in our efforts to build awareness around the issue of sextortion.”

According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, between October 2017 and August 2, 2018, DELING used multiple social media and chat platforms, including Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Kik, and Skype, as well as text messages to carry out his sextortion scheme. Sextortion is the act of extorting sexually explicit images and videos from a victim by threatening to reveal a victim’s sexually explicit chats, images, or videos, or through threats of harm to the victim or the victim’s loved ones. In the course of his scheme, DELING sextorted more than 40 minor girls whom he knew to be or believed were between 11 and 17 years old.

According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, DELING, using multiple usernames and accounts, employed several different techniques to attempt to and to obtain child pornography from minor girls. One technique DELING used was offering compliments and expressions of affection to the minor girls to persuade them into creating sexually explicit images of themselves. In many instances, DELING threatened to and actually did disseminate sexually explicit images of the girls to their friends and family if the girls refused to provide him with sexually explicit images. In other instances, DELING threatened to send his associates to rape, kidnap, injure, or kill the girls or their loved ones. To underscore his threats, DELING sent screenshots of maps of the girls’ residences, family members’ contact information, and other identifying information to the girls, as well as posting the information online. In at least one instance, DELING obtained sexually explicit images through a friend of one of the girls.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, in coordination with multiple state and local law enforcement agencies inside and outside of Minnesota.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Miranda E Dugi.

Defendant Information:

DYLAN MATTHEW DELING, a/k/a “Jason Keens,” a/k/a “Dylan Nash,” 20

Fairmont, Minn.

Convicted:

• Production of child pornography, 1 count
• Interstate communication with intent to extort, 1 count

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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600