Man Pleads Guilty to Coercing Children to Engage in Sexual Activity

A District of Columbia man pleaded guilty today to coercing multiple children to engage in unlawful sexual activity, including through online sextortion.

According to court documents, Glenn Matthews, 33, used his Instagram account to communicate with multiple minors over several months in 2020. During that time, Matthews sent sexually explicit images and videos of himself to at least 10 different minors, who were between the ages of 9 and 16. He enticed at least one of the minors to create images of themselves engaged in sexual activity. Matthews also sought to meet up with the minors to engage in sexual activity. In some instances, Matthews took screenshots of his conversations with the minor victims and threatened to expose the minors to their friends if they did not comply with his demands. 

Matthews pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor and second‑degree child sexual abuse in violation of D.C. law. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 6 and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation & Human Trafficking Task Force is investigating the case. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.

Trial Attorney Rachel L. Rothberg of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Mayer-Dempsey for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.