Clinton Man, 31, Gets 5 Years In Prison For Having Sex With Minor

CLINTON, CT — Mark Felner, 31, of Clinton was sentenced Wednesday to serve five years in federal prison for having sex with an underage victim in 2015 and 2016, and for receiving pornographic images from the girl. Felner went to North Carolina from Connecticut to meet the girl and have sex with her, prosecutors said. Felner pleaded guilty in July.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the New London and East Lyme police departments.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on multiple occasions in 2015, Felner, who was 26 at the time, traveled from Connecticut to North Carolina to engage in illegal sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl.

In 2015 and 2016, when Felner and the minor victim were not physically together, the victim, at Felner’s instruction, sent pornographic images of herself through social media messaging services. He was arrested on an October 2019 federal criminal complaint.

Prosecutors said a memory card seized from Felner at the time of his arrest revealed pornographic images that he had received from the minor victim.

Felner, who is out on a $50,000 bond, is scheduled to report to prison on Jan. 7, 2021. After his release, he'll be required to register as a sex offender as a result of his conviction.

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.