Judge Shocked By MN Man's Sex Assault Crimes, Gives 30 Year Sentence

MINNEAPOLIS – A 26-year-old Pine City man has been sentenced to 350 months — or nearly 30 years — in prison for producing images of child pornography, and coercing and enticing girls to engage in illegal sexual activity, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

On Oct. 11, 2023, Caleb McLaughlin pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.

He was sentenced Thursday by Chief Judge Patrick J. Schlitz. Schlitz said the sentence was one of the longest he had ever imposed and called McLaughlin’s behavior, "shocking, even to someone like me, a federal judge who has been sentencing [child sex offenders] for over two decades."

"For years, Caleb McLaughlin used social media to groom, sexually exploit, and abuse hundreds of minor victims. He preyed upon the most vulnerable, with some victims as young as 11 or 12 years old," said Luger.

"Protecting Minnesota children from the trauma of sexual exploitation is a critical part of our mission, and I thank all of our partners in law enforcement for their diligence on this investigation."

Starting in January 2019, McLaughlin used multiple social media accounts to solicit and direct over 200 girls to produce and send sexually explicit images, of whom 26 minors have been identified between the ages of 11 and 16 years old in Minnesota and Wisconsin, prosecutors said.

McLaughlin used a variety of aliases and Snapchat IDs including “Jake Benson,” “Lift11” or “Tech4cm,” in his scheme, and sometimes purported to be 17 years old to prey on minor girls he met online to entice and coerce them to create sexually explicit images and videos, according to investigators.

McLaughlin targeted minor victims not only to obtain child pornography but also to coerce minor victims to meet him in person so he could commit hands-on sexual abuse, authorities said.

McLaughlin offered minors drugs, alcohol, vape pens, cash, and gift cards in exchange for sex acts, according to investigators.

McLaughlin documented that abuse by producing child pornography videos and distributed numerous videos and images of child pornography, some of which was self-produced and depicted him sexually assaulting minor victims, authorities said.