A Baltimore man has been sentenced to 32 years in federal prison for the coercion and enticement of a minor and sexually exploiting six minors. Delroy James Scott, 25, received his sentence from U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander, which will be followed by 50 years of supervised release.
The announcement was made by Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, alongside Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the FBI; Chief Robert McCullough of the Baltimore County Police Department; Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger; Chief Charles H. Hinnant of the Cumberland Police Department; and Allegany County State’s Attorney James Elliott.
Scott's guilty plea revealed that between November 2021 and May 2022, he exploited six minor females aged between 9 and 14. He used an alias to pose as a teenager on mobile phones and online applications to communicate with these minors. Scott persuaded them to meet him for sex acts or to produce explicit images and videos.
Specific incidents included Scott traveling twice to Minor Victim 1's apartment, where he coerced her into sex acts when she was just nine years old. He also pressured Minor Victim 2, age 11, into sending explicit material by threatening exposure if she refused further meetings for sexual activities.
In another case, Scott convinced Minor Victim 3, age 13, to provide her home address so he could enter through her bedroom window and assault her sexually. Additionally, he visited Minor Victim 4's middle school three times in the morning to coerce her into sex acts under threat of exposure via video footage.
Minor Victim 5 was coerced at age ten into producing explicit videos under threat that Scott would inform her mother otherwise. With Minor Victim 6, who was fifteen at the time, Scott recorded their engagement in sexually explicit conduct on multiple occasions.
Further details presented during sentencing indicated that between 2017 and 2022, Scott engaged in similar unlawful conduct with other minors aged between twelve and sixteen.
This case falls under Project Safe Childhood—a nationwide initiative started by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse by coordinating efforts among federal, state, and local resources.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended several law enforcement agencies including the FBI for their roles in investigating this case while thanking Assistant U.S Attorney Paul E Budlow who prosecuted it.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood or internet safety education resources available through related programs within Maryland's U.S Attorneys Office visit www.justice.gov/psc or www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood respectively