Former CT Air National Guard Member Pleads Guilty to Enticing 48 Minors To Engage in Sexual Activity Online

An East Hampton man pleaded guilty Thursday, Feb. 18, before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport.

Keith Haessly, 46, pleaded guilty to using a computer to persuade minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity, according to Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI.

48 Victims; Investigation Ongoing

According to court documents and statements made in court, between approximately August 2013 and June 2015, Haessly used video chat programs, posed as a young female and used previously-recorded videos of females to entice numerous boys to engage in sexual activity over webcams.

Haessly then made recordings of the boys who engaged in sexual activity and distributed some of the images he recorded to an individual in Virginia.

To date, investigators have identified 48 individual victims. The effort to identify additional victims is ongoing.

Haessly has been detained since his arrest on June 3, 2015. At the time of his arrest, he was a member of the Connecticut Air National Guard.

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Haessly pleaded guilty to one count of use of an interstate facility to persuade a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years, a maximum term of imprisonment of life and a fine of up to $250,000. A sentencing date is not yet scheduled.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Connecticut Child Exploitation Task Force, with the assistance of the Connecticut Air National Guard Office of Special Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Miller.

The prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit the PSC website.

To report cases of child exploitation, visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website.