Source: United States Department of Justice News
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and David Sundberg, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that JAKE SCOTT FLEWELLYN, 24, of Norwalk, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with child pornography offenses.
Flewellyn surrendered to law enforcement yesterday afternoon. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Dave Vatti in Bridgeport and was released on a $100,000 bond under electronic monitoring.
As alleged in court documents, in December 2021, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”) received a report from the provider of the smartphone messaging application Kik about a Kik user who was distributing videos of child pornography through its service. Kik deactivated the user’s account. In early April 2022, while federal law enforcement was investigating this matter to determine the Kik user’s identity, Kik submitted to NCMEC another report of a user account that was being used to distribute videos of child pornography. The investigation revealed that Flewellyn created both Kik accounts and used them to distribute images and videos depicting child sex abuse
The complaint charges Flewellyn with distribution of child pornography, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and accessing with intent to view child pornography, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Norwalk Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert S. Dearington and Neeraj N. Patel.
This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.