New York man arrested on federal sexual exploitation charges

CINCINNATI - A New York man was arrested last night on federal sexual exploitation charges filed in the Southern District of Ohio after investigation into a missing Colerain teenager revealed he was previously involved with the minor.

Kyle D. Lawrence, 43, of Buffalo, New York, was arrested at his residence. He appeared in federal court in New York today.

According to charging documents, on Feb. 16, Colerain Township police began investigating the circumstances surrounding a missing teenager. Officers reviewed video surveillance from the minor's home and discovered that in January, the teenager entered a black Jeep Grand Cherokee with New York license plates. License plate readers and receipts confirm that Lawrence allegedly rented the vehicle and that he and the minor stayed at a Cincinnati hotel together on Jan. 31.

It was discovered that Lawrence was the subject of a report to the FBI in May 2024. Lawrence was confronted by a citizen vigilante group while in Canada for allegedly traveling to Canada to have sexual contact with a purported 15-year-old girl. Agents in Buffalo had previously been in contact with Lawrence in response to the report.

Further investigation by the FBI revealed two cyber tip reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding Lawrence's Snapchat account and child exploitation activity.

On Feb. 26, FBI agents in Buffalo executed a federal search warrant at Lawrence's residence and seized several electronic devices, which contained child sexual abuse material.

An affidavit details that Lawrence told agents he communicated with the minor from Colerain on Snapchat and traveled to the Cincinnati area twice in January to meet up. He used the location services on Snapchat to locate the minor when he picked her up.

Law enforcement's investigation into the whereabouts of the missing teenager remains ongoing.

Lawrence is charged with transportation with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity (a crime punishable by at least 10 years and up to life in prison), travel with the intent to engage in illicit conduct (up to 30 years in prison) and transportation of child pornography (five to 20 years in prison).

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jason Cromartie, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; Colerain Township Police Chief Edwin C. Cordie III and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced the charges.

This is a joint investigation being conducted by the FBI divisions in Cincinnati and Buffalo, Colerain Township Police Department, New York State Police and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). Assistant United States Attorney Kyle J. Healey is representing the United States in this case.

This case is being 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 U.S. Attorney's Offices and the 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, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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