A 27-year-old Pittsburgh resident has pleaded guilty in federal court to coercing a minor into illegal sexual activity and possessing material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, admitting he used text messages and social media to pressure the victim into sending explicit images and videos between August and November 2023. Luke Clements offered the minor small payments in exchange for the material, and a search of his residence turned up electronic devices that investigators say contained saved images and videos of the victim.
According to Beaver County Radio, Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti announced that the Pittsburgh resident pleaded guilty in federal court to charges involving the sexual exploitation of a minor. Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch is prosecuting the case on behalf of the federal government, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The same release announced Clements' guilty plea.
Phone Search Reportedly Revealed Other Victims
Investigators say Clements' cell phone contained not only the saved images and videos of the original victim but also revealed numerous other minor victims, per the Justice Department's account. The case is listed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania under case number 2:25-cr-00211, according to PacerMonitor. Clements later entered his plea.
Clements is scheduled for sentencing on February 2, 2027, the Justice Department says. Clements pleaded guilty to two counts: coercion and enticement of a minor, and possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor.
What Clements Could Face at Sentencing
What Clements Could Face at Sentencing The coercion and enticement count is one of the two charges to which Clements pleaded guilty. The possession charge carries a separate maximum of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to Beaver County Radio's reporting on the case.
Clements is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on February 2, 2027. Two recent Pittsburgh-area cases offer some sense of scale: in April 2025, a federal judge sentenced a 28-year-old Cheswick resident to 20 years in prison after he coerced a minor online to send explicit images found on his cell phone, and in February 2025, a 53-year-old Pittsburgh resident pleaded guilty in the same federal district to receiving child sexual abuse material after using cryptocurrency to buy encrypted explicit files — a case Hoodline covered at the time.
Project Safe Childhood
Project Safe Childhood is a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Key questions remain open in the case, including whether additional federal or state charges will be filed over the other minor victims reportedly identified on Clements' phone, and what specific sentence prosecutors will ultimately request before Judge Stickman when the case returns to court in February.
