Vernon Man Charged with Enticing Minors He Communicated with on Snapchat to Send Him Sexually Explicit Images

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Robert Fuller, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that DARYL TODD, 43, of Vernon, was arrested today and charged by criminal complaint with child exploitation offenses.

Following his arrest, Todd appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish in Hartford and was ordered detained pending a detention hearing that is scheduled for March 11.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, an investigation by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force revealed that Todd used Snapchat to communicate with minor girls and entice them to send him sexually explicit images and videos of themselves, often in return for money that Todd sent the victims using the mobile payment service Cash App.  Todd also sent sexually explicit images of himself to the minor victims.

Todd was arrested this morning after investigators executed a court-authorized search warrant at his residence and a preliminary review of his cellphone revealed sexually explicit images of minor females.

The complaint charges Todd with transfer of obscene material to minors, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years; receipt of child pornography, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years; and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life.

U.S. Attorney Avery 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 FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford through 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.