Bristol Man Charged with Federal Child Exploitation Offenses

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JEFFREY L. BACON, 60, of Bristol, was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint charging him with multiple child exploitation offenses.

Bacon appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford and was released on a $100,000 bond and electronic monitoring.

As alleged in the criminal complaint, in October 2018, Bacon began communicating with a 15-year-old-girl through the Kik messaging application after Bacon met the girl in a Kik chat group for teens.  During their communications, that girl told Bacon she was a minor.  Knowing that she was a minor, Bacon still sent the girl sexually explicit pictures of himself and described various sexual acts that he wanted to engage in with the girl.  The girl told her mother who reported the communications to the police.

It is further alleged that, on October 30, 2018, a law enforcement officer assumed the girl’s Kik identity to continue to correspond with Bacon.  Bacon asked the undercover officer, posing as the girl, to remind Bacon of her age.  The officer responded with “15.”  From October 30 to November 1, Bacon repeatedly sent sexually explicit pictures and videos of himself to the undercover officer.  Bacon also requested sexually explicit pictures in return.  During the course of their conversations, Bacon asked the undercover officer if he could pick her up from school so he could see her.  Bacon suggested they could go to the mall where the girl could try on clothes while Bacon watched and engaged in a sexual act.  Bacon also discussed going to a motel with the girl to engage in sexual acts with her.

On November 19, 2018, Bacon was arrested on related state charges.

It is alleged that, during a subsequent forensic examination of Bacon’s laptop computer, investigators found images of child pornography, including images depicting prepubescent females engaged in sexual acts with adults.

The complaint charges Bacon with enticing and attempting to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life, soliciting and attempting to solicit child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and possession of child pornography, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that a complaint is only a charge and 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Enfield Police Department.  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.