田纳西州登记性犯罪者以网络游戏结识11岁男童索要裸照：判30年联邦监禁
美国司法部田纳西西区联邦检察官办公室宣布，田纳西州 Jackson 市原居民 Benjamin Franklin Harden（30岁）因以制作视觉描绘为目的、引诱未成年人从事性行为（违反《美国法典》第18编第2251(a)条），被判处30年联邦监禁。联邦检察官 D. Michael Dunavant 公布了这一判决。
根据法庭上呈报的信息，2025年初，Harden 在网络游戏《使命召唤》（Call of Duty）中结识了一名来自西弗吉尼亚州的11岁男童。两人交换电话号码后，开始通过短信、电话和视频聊天联系。Harden 要求男童拍摄裸照并发给他，两人还在实时视频聊天中各自做出性行为。
Harden 曾嘱咐男童删除手机里的一切联系痕迹，但男童的母亲还是发现了部分信息与照片并报警。调查人员确认 Harden 当时住在 Madison County，案件随后移交位于 Jackson 的联邦调查局 FBI 调查。
FBI 探员查明，Harden 曾于2016年在田纳西州 Hamilton County 因加重性侵被定罪，按田纳西州法律必须登记为性犯罪者。探员还了解到他近期已搬到佐治亚州。2025年6月，FBI 探员在佐治亚州他的工作地点找到他，他在问讯中承认与这名11岁男童有非法线上关系。
Harden 在今年早些时候按被指控的罪名认罪。2026年10月15日，联邦地区法官 S. Thomas Anderson 判处他360个月监禁，并处5年监督释放；联邦刑罚没有假释。刑满释放后，他还必须按《性犯罪者登记与通知法》（SORNA）登记为性犯罪者。
联邦检察官 D. Michael Dunavant 表示，性掠夺者会利用任何手段接触未成年人，家长应警惕留意孩子在网络游戏、社交媒体和手机上的活动所带来的风险。FBI Nashville 外勤办公室特别探员主管 Terence G. Reilly 表示，保护儿童是执法部门对每个孩子和每个家庭的承诺。
此案由 FBI Nashville 外勤办公室 Jackson 驻地机构、田纳西州惩教部（假释与缓刑办公室）以及西弗吉尼亚州 Martinsburg 警局调查，助理联邦检察官 Josh Morrow 负责起诉。
Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Exploiting 11-Year-Old Boy Met Through Online Game
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee announced that Benjamin Franklin Harden, 30, formerly of Jackson, Tennessee, has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of the conduct, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2251(a). U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant announced the sentence.
According to information presented in court, in early 2025, Harden befriended an 11-year-old boy from West Virginia while playing the online video game Call of Duty. The two exchanged phone numbers and began communicating via text messages, phone calls, and video chats. Harden asked the minor to take nude photographs and send them to him, and the two also had live video chats where they performed sexual acts on themselves.
Harden instructed the minor to delete any trace of their communications, but the minor's mother found some of their messages and photos and called the police. Investigators determined that Harden was living in Madison County, and the case was referred to the FBI in Jackson.
FBI agents determined that Harden was convicted of aggravated sexual battery in Hamilton County, Tennessee, in 2016 and was required to register as a sex offender. Agents also learned he had recently moved to Georgia. In June 2025, FBI agents located Harden at his place of employment in Georgia, and he admitted to engaging in an illegal online relationship with the boy.
Following his guilty plea earlier this year, U.S. District Court Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Harden on October 15, 2026, to 360 months' imprisonment and five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. After release, he will have to register as a sex offender under SORNA.
The case was investigated by the FBI Nashville Field Office's Jackson Resident Agency, the Tennessee Department of Correction, and the Martinsburg, West Virginia Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Morrow prosecuted the case.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：美国司法部罗伯特·肯尼迪大楼（GSM固定图库，APK，CC BY 4.0）：被告无官方照片，以司法部大楼为兜底图 / The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building (GSM fixed image library, photo by APK, CC BY 4.0); no official photo of the defendant is available.
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