Man Sentenced To Prison For Coercing CT Juvenile Victim: Feds

BRIDGEPORT, CT — A Michigan man living in the Philippines has been sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for for coercing a minor girl from Connecticut to send him sexually explicit photos of herself through the internet, according to a statement from Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. Jason Keller, 35, will also serve five years of supervised release.

According to prosecutors, in September 2018, Keller, while living in the Philippines, used the moniker “Eddie Buttered Toast” to contact a 14-year-old female in Connecticut and claim that he was a 17-year-old boy from Colorado.

Keller then sent the minor victim numerous grooming emails that eventually coaxed the minor victim into sending photos of herself engaged in sexually explicit conduct to Keller. Some of the emails Keller sent to the minor victim included sexually explicit images of himself, prosecutors said.

In December 2018, a grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging Keller. Keller was located and arrested in the Philippines in June 2019. He was removed from the Philippines and returned to the U.S.in December 2019. He has been detained since his arrest.

Keller pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography in December 2020.

Keller formerly resided in Dearborn Heights, MI.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.