Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that LELAND ROBINSON was sentenced to 50 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas for his enticement of a 14-year-old minor to engage in sexual activity. ROBINSON was convicted of enticement of a minor following a week-long jury trial in July 2023.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Leland Robinson’s crime is the nightmare of every parent of a child who uses a smartphone. Robinson met his victim on a social media application and then traveled to Connecticut, where he sexually assaulted the child outside the child’s home. I encourage parents and caregivers to have conversations with their children about the dangers of communicating online with strangers. We will continue to use every tool available to law enforcement to prosecute and punish those who seek to exploit our children.”
According to court documents and the evidence presented in the trial of ROBINSON:
In or about February 2019, ROBINSON, who was 31 years old but posing as a high school student, met a 14-year-old boy (“Victim-1”) on a social media application. ROBINSON sent Victim-1 sexually explicit images and videos of himself and requested the same from Victim-1. In the fall of 2019, ROBINSON agreed to provide Victim-1 with a JUUL if Victim-1 would engage in sex with ROBINSON. On multiple occasions in September and October 2019, ROBINSON traveled to Victim-1’s home in Connecticut. On October 24, 2019, ROBINSON returned to Victim-1’s house and sexually assaulted him in the yard outside his house.
In imposing the sentence, Judge Karas said: “People should understand that when they prey on kids, they will pay the price.”
In addition to the prison term, ROBINSON, 35, of Mount Vernon, New York, was sentenced to 15 years of supervised release.
Mr. Williams praised the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New Canaan Police Department, and the Greensboro Police Department in Greensboro, North Carolina, in connection with this investigation.
Robinson was arrested in New Canaan Connecticut in 2020 and charged with sexual assault and enticing a minor by computer.
