PITTSBURGH ― A former Ellwood City resident was sentenced April 22 in federal court to 252 months incarceration, followed by 15 years of supervised release, on his conviction of coercion and enticement of a minor and production and receipt of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor.
U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV imposed the sentence on Shayne A. Clapper, 31, reported Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti.
According to information presented to the court, in January 2023 through February 2023, Clapper initiated a sexual relationship with a minor known to him. Clapper provided the minor with a cell phone that he used to communicate with the minor, including requesting and receiving nude images from the minor. Clapper also induced the minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of the conduct.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Heidi M. Grogan prosecuted this case on behalf of the government. Rivetti commended the FBI and Ellwood City Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Clapper.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visitwww.justice.gov/psc.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Ellwood man sentenced to 21 years imprisonment on child-sex charges