Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison for Sexually Exploiting a Minor

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced on charges related to the sexual exploitation of children, announced Acting United States Attorney Catherine L. Crosby.

United States District Judge Anna M. Manasco sentenced Robert John Newman, Jr., 29, of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, to 480 months in prison followed by a life term of supervised release. Newman was also ordered to pay a $5,000 special assessment under the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Act. In October 2025, Newman pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children, coercion and enticement of a minor, and travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

According to court documents, from on or about December 30, 2024, through January 4, 2025, Newman targeted the 14-year-old victim online through social media, befriended her through deceit, and relentlessly coerced her into sending him child sexual abuse material at his direction. On January 4, 2025, Newman travelled over 700 miles from his residence in Glenshaw, Pennsylvania to the minor victim's residence in northern Alabama with the intent to engage in unlawful sexual activity with her. The minor's mother found Newman, a man unknown to her, lying on the bed in her daughter's bedroom and confronted him. Newman fled the residence back to Glenshaw, Pennsylvania.

On January 22, 2025, Newman was arrested in Pennsylvania on Alabama state warrants for electronic solicitation, traveling to meet a minor for an unlawful sex act, production of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. At the time of his arrest, officers seized Newman's iPhone. After obtaining a federal search warrant, FBI agents reviewed his iPhone which revealed communications between Newman and the minor victim as well as child sexual abuse material involving the victim. Additional digital evidence recovered from Newman's iPhone revealed that this minor was not Newman's only victim. After returning to Pennsylvania from the minor victim's residence in Alabama, Newman was in communication with another victim who the FBI identified as an 11-year-old female in Colorado.

This case was part of Operation Restore Justice, a coordinated enforcement effort by FBI field offices across the country, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, and United States Attorneys' Offices around the country to identify, track, and arrest child sex predators, and in connection with Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.govLinks 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..

If you suspect or become aware of the possible sexual exploitation of a child, please contact law enforcement. To alert the FBI Birmingham Office, call 205-326-6166. Reports can also be filed with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) or online at https://www.cybertipline.orgLinks 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..

The Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018 (AVAA) created new penalties and made several changes to existing child pornography laws. In the passage of this legislation, Congress intended for victims of child pornography to be compensated for the harms resulting from every perpetrator who contributes to their anguish. The amounts received as AVAA special assessments are deposited in the Child Pornography Victims Reserve to pay defined monetary assistance to victims.

The FBI Birmingham Field Office investigated the case along with the FBI Pittsburgh Division (PA), FBI Denver Division (CO), Winston County, Alabama, Sheriff's Office and the Shaler, Pennsylvania, Township Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Leann White prosecuted the case.