Turks and Caicos Man Sentenced to 240 months for the Sextortion of Missouri Teen

ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge Joshua M. Divine on Thursday sentenced a man from the Turks and Caicos to 240 months in prison followed by lifetime supervised release for the sextortion of a Missouri teen.

Alexander Gardiner, 25, of Providenciales, pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in November. Gardiner, who is a citizen of both the United States and the Turks and Caicos, met a 15-year-old Missouri boy via Snapchat. After multiple requests by Gardiner, the teen sent photos of his genitals to Gardiner, believing he would be left alone after doing so. Gardiner instead repeatedly harassed the minor via iMessage, Facebook and WhatsApp, and threatened to send those images to the victim's family and friends if the victim did not continue to produce child sexual abuse material (CSAM) for Gardiner. Gardiner also admitted possessing multiple videos of teenage boys masturbating that he'd obtained via Snapchat. While pretending to be female, he directed an as-yet-unidentified 14-year-old to produce CSAM in 2021. Gardiner posted CSAM on Twitter and exchanged CSAM in Telegram group that targeted minors.

Gardiner has used usernames that contain the words "noahmonn" and "jewelsbaits." Anyone who believes they may have been targets of a sextortion attempt by Gardiner or others should contact local law enforcement or the FBI by calling Call 1-800-CALL-FBI, contacting your local FBI office, or reporting it online at tips.fbi.gov or cybertipline.org.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has detailed informationLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. on resources for sextortion victims, including videos and discussion guides to help explain the problem to children and adults. They also have a step-by-step guideLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. on how to report pictures or videos of children to social media companies and flag picturesLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. so that the companies will seek out and remove the images.

The FBI investigated the case with the assistance of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's 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.