Man Sentenced To 20 Years in Prison for Child Exploitation

WORCESTER COUNTY, MA—A Charlton man was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court in Worcester in connection with soliciting hundreds of teenage girls on several social media platforms.

Matthew Clem, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Hillman to 20 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release. In April 2016, he pleaded guilty to three counts of producing child pornography. Clem also faces state child rape charges in the Worcester Superior Court.

Clem pretended to be a 15-16 year old boy on several social media platforms in order to meet teenage girls, said the release. After chatting with them, Clem proposed that they meet his 19 or 20 year old “cousin,” who Clem claimed was returning from active military duty. The “cousin,” however, was Clem himself who had never served in the military. Evidence on Clem’s cell phone revealed that he had solicited more than 1,000 potential victims.

Clem admitted during the plea hearing that in October 2014 he requested and obtained nude photos of a teenage female victim through Kik Messenger, a web-based messaging service. Via text message, Clem specified poses and sexual acts for the victim to photograph and send to him.

From September 2011 to May 2012, Clem video-chatted with another female teenage victim over Skype, a web-based video messaging service. During the video chats, Clem had the victim remove her clothes and conduct sexual acts. Clem also met with the victim and engaged in sexual intercourse with her.

Clem also admittedto communicating with a third teenage victim through Kik Messenger in the spring and fall of 2014. Clem exchanged sexually graphic text messages and images with the teenager and met her on multiple occasions to engage in sexual intercourse.