A Colorado man charged with enticing a minor to participate in illicit activity has been handed a hefty prison sentence. Miles Steven McGough, a 25-year-old from the Centennial State, was sentenced to over 19 years behind bars after a court in Miami found him guilty of engaging a minor in criminal sexual activity.
The case, spearheaded by U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) concluded with U.S. District Court Judge K. Michael Moore ordered McGough to serve 235 months in prison. Reportedly, McGough had pleaded guilty to the charges, admitting to his wrongdoings that involved sending sexually explicit messages via Snapchat and sharing indecent images with the victim, a minor from Southern Florida.
The investigation, which included help from the Castle Rock Police Department in Colorado, unearthed further disturbing evidence from McGough's cell phone. A search warrant executed on the device revealed explicit images of McGough's genitals shared with the minor and videos and images of the minor victim performing oral sex on McGough, created during McGough’s visit to Florida, according to a press release by the Department of Justice.
The sentence also includes a term of supervised release that spans 15 years following his incarceration, and a fine of $25,000 was imposed on McGough. Meanwhile, the case was brought as a part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative aimed at combating child exploitation and abuse that was launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006. The initiative seeks to consolidate efforts at various governmental levels to locate and prosecute individuals who exploit children through the internet and work to rescue victims. For more information about the initiative, supporters and concerned citizens are urged to visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
