Hartford Man, 26, Charged With Sexually Exploiting Girl, 13: Feds

HARTFORD, CT — A 26-year-old Hartford man has been charged with sending a 13-year-old girl sexually explicit images and videos via a social media platform used by video game players.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, and Robert Fuller, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said Wednesday that Marvyn Escobar, 26, of Hartford, was charged Tuesday with child exploitation offenses.

Following his arrest, Escobar appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert A. Richardson in Hartford and was ordered detained.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, an investigation by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force and Hartford Police Department revealed Escobar used the social media platform Discord to have sexually explicit communications with a 13-year-old girl.

Avery said Escobar sent the minor victim sexually explicit images and videos and requested she send him sexually explicit images of herself, which she did.

It is alleged the Discord communications between Escobar and the minor victim began on July 19, 2023, federal officials said.

The following day, Escobar was sentenced in state court to five years of jail, all suspended, and three years of probation, for risk of injury to children.

That charge stemmed from Escobar’s sexual assault of a minor female in 2018 and 2019, Avery said.

Federal officials said the complaint charges Escobar with receipt of child pornography, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and transfer of obscene material to a minor, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

For the full announcement of the charges, click on this link.