Last Updated on October 7, 2021 5:27 pm
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced Frank
Darrell Cromwell, 25, of Boone, N.C., to 25 years in prison for producing child pornography,
announced William T. Stetzer, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Cromwell was also ordered to pay special assessments in the amount of $55,100, to serve a
lifetime of supervised release, and to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison.
Ronnie Martinez, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in North Carolina and South
Carolina, and Chief Andy LeBeau of the Boone Police Department, join Acting U.S. Attorney
Stetzer in making today’s announcement.
According to court records and today’s hearing, between December 2018 and February
2019, Cromwell used Snapchat to convince multiple minor victims that Cromwell was a female,
and to communicate with the minors. During the relevant time period, Cromwell induced and
sometimes coerced the minor victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct and to send explicit
images and videos to Cromwell.
“Technology misused by predators like Cromwell can impact the safety and well-being of
children everywhere,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Stetzer. “It is important – now more than ever –
to have conversations with children about the dangers that lurk on the internet, and remind them
that things, and people, online are not always what they seem. I want to thank our law
enforcement partners for their investigation of this case, and all they do to help us protect
children.”
“Cases like this should put predators on notice that they cannot use the internet to hide
from justice, because we will use all of our resources to find you and hold you accountable,” said
Special Agent In Charge Martinez. “HSI along with its partners will continue to combat this
heinous crime, but we need everyone to be vigilant and monitor what our children do online as
well as who they interact with.”
In making today’s announcement, Acting U.S. Attorney Stetzer commended HSI and the
Boone Police Department for their investigation the case and thanked the North Carolina State
Bureau of Investigation for their invaluable assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cortney Randall and Stephanie Spaugh prosecuted the case.
The case was were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to
combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by
the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child
Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and
local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the
Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe
Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
