U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten today announced that Kelton Salowitz, 19, of Curtis, Michigan, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for sexually exploiting a 12-year-old child.
“We cannot undo the harm that Mr. Salowitz inflicted on children, but today’s sentence is a measure of justice for the victims and an important step to protect the community,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “This case is also a reminder of the dangers that lurk online. Without sufficient guardrails, smartphones can give criminals across the United States and around the world access to our children, even inside the safety of their homes. Educate your kids, monitor their online activity, and let them know they can also talk to you if they mess up.”
Salowitz pleaded guilty to repeatedly asking a 12-year-old girl, who was living in a different state, to send him sexually explicit photos and videos. He communicated with the child on his smartphone through the application Discord. One of the videos recovered from defendant’s phone was a recorded livestream in which the child performed sexual acts at the instruction of Salowitz. In addition, Salowitz requested, but did not receive, similar content from another 12-year-old, and investigators recovered a collection of child pornography on his phone which included videos of men sexually assaulting children.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) provides the following Top 10 Tips2Protect for parents to protect their children from online predators:
- Start an open, two-way conversation with your child.
- Password-protect or control access to your child’s app store and gaming downloads.
- Set time and area limits for use of devices and set device check-in times.
- Set all apps, games and devices to private.
- Turn off location data services on social media and nonessential apps.
- Talk about data permanency. Online data can last a lifetime.
- Create a contract with your child regarding online behavior.
- Know your child’s friend lists. Remove strangers.
- Warn your child that they should never leave a game to chat with someone they don’t know on a different platform.
- Do not delete messages, images or videos from predators and do not forward any sexually explicit images or videos. Save usernames, screenshots and images or videos as evidence for law enforcement to collect directly from the device.
Further information for parents about how to protect their children, what to share with them, and the signs of online sexual exploitation are available on the agency’s Know2Protect (K2P) website.
The Mackinac County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, investigated this matter.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, county prosecutor’s offices, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), and federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement are working closely together to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children. The partners in Project Safe Childhood educate local communities about the dangers of online child exploitation and teach children how to protect themselves. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. Individuals with information or concerns about possible child exploitation should contact local law enforcement officials.
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