Man convinced 12-year-old child to send him sexually explicit photos and videos
MARQUETTE, Mich. – Kelton Salowitz, 19, of Curtis, Michigan, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in federal prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for sexually exploiting a 12-year-old child following an HSI-led investigation.
“We will hold sexual predators accountable for victimizing innocent children despite their efforts to hide behind a screen,” said HSI Detroit Special Agent in Charge Angie M. Salazar. “Our HSI special agents in Northern Michigan will continue to investigate crimes of exploitation with the help of our law enforcement partners. Together we can work toward justice for the victims and survivors of these crimes wherever they may be.”
“We cannot undo the harm that Mr. Salowitz inflicted on children, but today’s sentence is a measure of justice for the victims and an important step to protect the community,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “This case is also a reminder of the dangers that lurk online. Without sufficient guardrails, smartphones can give criminals across the United States and around the world access to our children, even inside the safety of their homes. Educate your kids, monitor their online activity, and let them know they can also talk to you if they mess up.”
Salowitz pleaded guilty to repeatedly asking a 12-year-old girl, who was living in a different state, to send him sexually explicit photos and videos. He communicated with the child on his smartphone through the application Discord. One of the videos recovered from defendant’s phone was a recorded livestream in which the child performed sexual acts at the instruction of Salowitz. In addition, Salowitz requested, but did not receive, similar content from another 12-year-old, and investigators recovered a collection of child pornography on his phone which included videos of men sexually assaulting children.
Homeland Security Investigations provides the following Top 10 Tips2Protect for parents to protect their children from online predators:
- Start an open, two-way conversation with your child.
- Password-protect or control access to your child’s app store and gaming downloads.
- Set time and area limits for use of devices and set device check-in times.
- Set all apps, games and devices to private.
- Turn off location data services on social media and nonessential apps.
- Talk about data permanency. Online data can last a lifetime.
- Create a contract with your child regarding online behavior.
- Know your child’s friend lists. Remove strangers.
- Warn your child that they should never leave a game to chat with someone they don’t know on a different platform.
- Do not delete messages, images or videos from predators and do not forward any sexually explicit images or videos. Save usernames, screenshots and images or videos as evidence for law enforcement to collect directly from the device.
Further information for parents about how to protect their children, what to share with them, and the signs of online sexual exploitation are available on the agency’s Know2Protect (K2P) website.
Homeland Security Investigations and the Mackinac County Sheriff’s Office investigated this matter.
Report suspected child exploitation to the HSI Tip Line at 1-877-4-HSI-TIP or through the CyberTipline on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's website.
To learn more on HSI Detroit’s mission to keep communities in Michigan and Ohio safe, follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSIDetroit.