Windsor Locks Man Pleads Guilty To Child Exploitation Offenses

HARTFORD, CT — A former Windsor Locks resident who has been in custody for just over a year since his arrest on child exploitation charges pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court.

Justin McKenney, 29, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty to one count each of enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and receipt of child pornography, according to Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Michael J. Krol, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Boston.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in Oct. 2021, Glastonbury police began investigating the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl by an individual she met on Snapchat. The investigation revealed McKenney, posing as a high school student and using the Snapchat username "keepingupg," began communicating with the girl in Sept. 2021, and subsequently enticed her to engage in sexual activity, Avery said.

In pleading guilty, McKenney also admitted he received child pornography from three other girls between the ages of 13 and 17, Avery said.

Enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years and a maximum term of life imprisonment. Receipt of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum five-year prison term and a maximum term of 20 years, Avery said.

McKenney has been detained since his arrest on March 17, 2022. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 11 by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Glastonbury Police Department, the Windsor Locks Police Department, the Manchester Police Department, and the Connecticut Center for Digital Investigations, with the assistance of the Hudson (Mass.) Police Department.