A federal jury in Brooklyn today convicted Billon McLeod on all seven counts of a superseding indictment charging him with sexual exploitation of a child, attempted sexual exploitation of a child, and coercion and enticement of minors. The verdict was returned after a three-day trial before United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack. When sentenced, McLeod faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment and up to life imprisonment.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Christopher G. Raia, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI) announced the verdict.

"The defendant is a serial predator whose playbook of using social media to meet vulnerable minor girls, and then groom and exploit them for his own sexual gratification, is a parent's nightmare," stated United States Attorney Nocella. "Because his victims bravely testified at trial, he will now be held accountable for his serious crimes, and today's verdict will prevent him from victimizing other minors while he serves a lengthy prison sentence."

Billon McLeod targeted minor girls on social media to coerce them into engaging in explicit conversations and sexual acts. By concealing his true age and manipulating their emotions, McLeod gained the victims' trust before subjecting them to unthinkable abuse and exploiting the innocence of four young girls. May today's verdict reflect the FBI's stout determination to protect vulnerable children from all online sexual predators," stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Raia.

As proved at trial, between approximately July 2024 and February 2025, McLeod used the internet-based application Snapchat and text messages, when he was an adult, to communicate with four minor females, three of whom he enticed to engage in sexual activity and one of whom he attempted to sexually exploit online. The victims ranged in age from 12-years-old to 16-years-old. In some instances, McLeod lied about his age, pretending to be a teenager. McLeod groomed the victims, messaging them about how much he "liked" or "loved" them and how much he wanted to see them. McLeod sent them sexually explicit messages and encouraged sexually explicit conversations. He persuaded multiple victims via text message and Facetime calls to travel to an apartment in Brooklyn, where they engaged in sexual activity with him, portions of which he recorded on his cell phone. Additionally, the defendant used the same applications and cell phones to entice one minor, and attempt to entice another, to create and send him sexually explicit content of themselves.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.

The government's case is being handled by the Office's General Crimes Section, with assistance from the Human Trafficking and Civil Rights Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Molly Delaney and Daniel J. Marcus are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Marlane Bosler.

The Defendant:

BILLON MCLEOD
Age: 31
Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No.: 25-CR-65 (S-1) (JMA)