Canadian national accused of attempted coercion and enticement, child pornography crimes

BILLINGS — A Canadian national who is accused of traveling to Montana to engage in illicit sexual conduct and was arrested in Billings in an undercover investigation appeared for arraignment today on charges, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

The defendant, Andrew Scott Brown, 43, of Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada, pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with attempted coercion and enticement, three counts of distribution of child pornography and travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. If convicted of the most serious crime, Brown faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years to a lifetime of supervised release.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan presided. Brown was detained pending further proceedings.

In court documents, the government alleged that from Jan. 27 through May 6, at Billings and in Canada, Brown used the internet and a cellular telephone to attempt to entice and coerce an individual he believed had not attained the age of 18 to engage in sexual activity. Brown also is accused of sending images that contain Child Sexual Abuse Material to an undercover law enforcement persona. In January, an undercover detective with the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office posted a message on a social media site, and a suspect with the username of “Eagle_Tiger” responded. The undercover persona identified herself as a 12-year-old girl, while “Eagle_Tiger” identified himself as a 42-year-old named Andrew, from Alberta, Canada. As further alleged, conversations led to Andrew discussing wanting to have sex with the persona and sending CSAM to the persona. Law enforcement arrested Brown on May 6 when he traveled to Billings to meet with the undercover persona.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office, Billings Police Department and the FBI conducted the investigation.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.

PACER case reference. 24-80.

The progress of cases may be monitored through the U.S. District Court Calendar and the PACER system. To establish a PACER account, which provides electronic access to review documents filed in a case, please visit http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the District Court’s calendar, please visit https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.

XXX