Munroe Falls man faces 10 years for online enticement of a minor in West Virginia

A Munroe Falls man pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of enticement of a minor and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Aaron Andrew Dement, 43, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 19, 2023. His attorney, Tom Loepp, said he and Dement have no comment at this time.

According to the Justice Department, Dement used a dating-chat website during the last half of 2021 to illegally correspond with a minor girl. He admitted to sending the girl a photo of his genitals and a video of himself engaging in sexual activity in August 2021, and had also asked her to send him a photo of her genitalia, the release stated.

Dement contacted the girl again in October 2021 and asked her to send him a sexually explicit photo of herself and a sexually explicit voice message while sending her another sexually explicit video of himself. The release states that Dement admitted that from Oct. 7, 2021, until Dec. 13, 2021, he continued to attempt to persuade, induce, entice or coerce the girl to engage in sexual activity while sending her sexually explicit images of himself, through online chats and text messages.

Dement faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison, at least five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Dement must also register as a sex offender.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. state attorneys' offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood involves federal, state and local resources to identify and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information, see www.justice.gov/psc.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Munroe Falls man faces 10 years for online enticement of W.Va. girl