SACRAMENTO, Calif. - John Robert Remlinger, 43, of Vallejo, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins to 24 years and four months in prison for sexual exploitation of a minor, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, in the summer of 2021, Remlinger contacted the minor identified as Minor Victim 1 using a smartphone application named Wink. Wink was advertised as a service for minors to meet and befriend other minors. Remlinger told the victim that he was 17 years old even though he was actually 39 years old. The victim responded, accurately, that she was 13. They soon moved their conversations from Wink to another smartphone application, Snapchat.

Using Snapchat, Remlinger repeatedly demanded that the victim provide sexually explicit videos and images, directing her how to pose. She complied and sent him videos and images of herself. Remlinger also recorded a live video call over Snapchat during which the minor victim posed in a sexually suggestive manner. Remlinger pleaded guilty on June 6, 2025.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas M. Fogg prosecuted the case.

This 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 United States 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 those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the "resources" tab for information about internet-safety education.