New York Man Indicted for Child Exploitation

BOSTON – A Queens, N.Y., man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for allegedly travelling across state lines to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a 13-year-old minor in Massachusetts. 

Andre Jamal Bennett, 33, was indicted on one count of sexual exploitation of children and one count of interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. Bennett was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with one count of interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in August 2026. He remains in federal custody. 

According to the charging documents, Bennett was employed by Delta Air Lines as a ground controller at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. In September 2025, Bennett allegedly created multiple social media accounts – including two Instagram accounts and a Snapchat account – using the fictitious name “Chris.” Using the accounts, Bennett allegedly falsely presented himself to be a 16-year-old boy in order to contact the minor victim.

In November 2025, Bennett allegedly took a flight from New York City to Boston. Upon landing in Boston, Bennett who had allegedly previously contacted the minor victim, informed her that he was in the area and coerced her into meeting him in person, sending her an Uber to her house. It is alleged that Bennett, still purporting to be a 16-year-old male boy, met the minor victim wearing a hooded sweatshirt concealing his face.

It is further alleged that Bennett brought the minor victim to a hotel and raped her. Bennett also allegedly recorded the sexual assault on his phone. Following the encounter, Bennett allegedly continued to contact the minor victim through social media over the course of several months and sought to entice her to meet with him again, including by offering to pay her. The minor victim refused.

The charge of sexual exploitation of children provides for a sentence of at least 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Michael Cox, Commissioner of the Boston Police Department made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the FBI’s New York Field Office and United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke A. Goldworm, of the Major Crimes Unit and Project Safe Childhood Coordinator Unit is prosecuting the case.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.