Former West Hartford Resident Sentenced In Fed Child Porn Case

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A former West Hartford resident has received a prison sentence of more than five years in a federal child pornography case, a leading prosecutor said.

John H. Durham, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, said that Dylan Koerner, 29, of currently of New Britain and formerly of West Hartford, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton to 70 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for "soliciting, receiving and distributing child pornography."

Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the court proceeding occurred via videoconference.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between July 2019 and October 2019, Koerner used a false identity and posed as a teenager on the internet mobile app Kik to solicit nude photographs from "minor females" as young as 12 years old.

He then traded those images with other Kik users to receive more images of child pornography, case records indicate.

On Oct. 29, 2019, federal agents executed a search warrant of Koerner’s residence and seized his cell phone, laptop and external hard drive, Durham said. Analysis of the seized devices revealed approximately 121 unique images, nine "unique videos depicting child pornography," and numerous images and video "depicting child erotica," Durham said.

According to case records, after earning his teaching certification in 2018, Koerner worked as an elementary school music teacher in Hartford, and as a substitute teacher at various elementary, middle and high schools in Connecticut.

On Sept. 21 of this year, 2020, Koerner pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography.

Koerner, who is released on a $100,000 bond, is required to report to prison on May 4.