A man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for using "modeling opportunities" to lure teen girls into sex in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
The accused, identified as Andrew Joseph Vinyard, 43, was sentenced by United States District Judge Laurie Michelson on Thursday, Oct. 20 to 25 years in federal prison on charges of attempted production of child pornography following his guilty plea in June this year, FOX 2 Detroit reported.
In November 2019, Vinyard reportedly began offering modeling opportunities and money to two 14-year-old victims in exchange for sex. Following this, one of the victim's parents contacted the police about the incident.
Following the parents' complaint, an officer posed as a 14-year-old girl from the same school as the victims to bust Vinyard. The officer then messaged Vinyard on Instagram about the opportunity.
Vinyard then offered to purchase the undercover officer a new phone in exchange for sex acts and for the undercover officer to take sexually explicit photos with the phone. Vinyard also offered $500 to get together and get high on cocaine and told the undercover officers that he wanted to "take her virginity" and take sexually explicit photographs of her.
In addition to these, he also requested multiple photos and videos of the undercover officer engaging in sexual activity. Authorities added that Vinyard also solicited live video texts of the undercover officer, so he could direct the undercover officer to perform sex acts on herself, United States Department of Justice reported.
“Today’s sentence reaffirms our office’s commitment to protecting the most vulnerable and defenseless members of our community – children,” said U.S. Attorney Ison. “It is our hope that a 25-year sentence sends a message to the defendant, and the community at large that we will continue to root out this type of evil in our society and pursue stiff sentences for defendants like this who repeatedly prey on the young.”
"Protecting children from dangerous, serial child predators like Andrew Vinyard is a priority for our office," said James A. Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Detroit Field Office. "His repeated attempts to lure and exploit children are deplorable, and our young people are safer with him behind bars. I am proud of the FBI, our law enforcement partners, and the concerned parents that came forward to hold this man accountable."
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