Chief U.S. District Judge Hala Y. Jarbou sentenced 31-year-old Ryan Dookhan of Jamaica, New York, to 30 years in prison for the sexual exploitation of an 11-year-old Michigan girl. Dookhan, a former elementary school security guard, targeted the child on the gaming platform Roblox before directing her to a messaging application that automatically deleted communications.
Federal court records show the abuse began in late 2024 after Dookhan met the victim online and played games with her several times.
He then instructed her to download a separate messaging app and threatened to kidnap her and remove her from her parents if she did not comply with his demands. Investigators found that Dookhan’s criminal conduct spanned several weeks, during which he coerced the child into producing and sending numerous sexually explicit photographs and videos.
The joint investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Sault Ste. Marie and the Michigan State Police as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative.
“Anyone who sexually exploits children deserves a lengthy sentence,” said U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey. “I hope this sentence shows that if someone exploits children in the Western District of Michigan, we will respond decisively and argue for the maximum sentence possible, which Dookhan received.”
Jeremy Pierczynski, acting deputy special agent in charge of HSI Detroit, addressed the breach of trust in a written statement.
“It is appalling when someone trusted to protect students abuses that position to prey on them,” Pierczynski said. “That betrayal is unacceptable, and we remain committed to protecting children and holding offenders accountable.”
Dookhan remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and is required to register as a sex offender upon completing his prison term.
READ: Life Plus 490 Years: Georgia Man Sentenced In Horrific Infant Abuse Case
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