On February 16, 2023, Wayne Edward McNutt, was sentenced to 25 years’ incarceration and lifetime supervised release. Senior United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti sentenced McNutt, a former Pittsburgh resident, for four counts related to the sexual exploitation of minors. McNutt, age 58, previously pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of Attempted Coercion and Enticement of a Minor, Distribution and Attempted Distributions of Material Depicting the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, and Possession of Material Depicting the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. Assistant United States Attorney Heidi M. Grogan prosecuted this case.
Between February 25, 2021, until July 26, 2021, McNutt believed he was communicating with a child’s guardian for the purposes of child sexual exploitation. In actuality, McNutt was communicating with an undercover law enforcement agent investigating the online sexual exploitation of children. Authorities reported that McNutt made plans with the undercover agent to meet a child for sex. McNutt additionally solicited advice from the child’s purported guardian on how to establish the child’s trust. On two occasions, McNutt sent the undercover agent pictures and videos depicting child sexual abuse.
Ultimately, authorities reported that McNutt sent money for the purported child and the child’s guardian to travel from another state to Pittsburgh. McNutt booked a hotel room in Pittsburgh. On July 26, 2021, law enforcement intercepted McNutt when he arrived in the Pittsburgh-area hotel to meet the minor. When McNutt was arrested by law enforcement, he possessed a cell phone that contained additional videos of child sexual abuse. At the time of his arrest, McNutt was on Pennsylvania state probation for a 2012 conviction for the aggravated indecent assault of a child. Due to his very serious and repetitive criminal conduct, Judge Conti stated that lifetime supervised release was necessary to protect the community from McNutt’s behavior.
McNutt’s case was brought in conjunction with Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood was initiated in May of 2006 by the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice identifies the five essential components of Project Safe Childhood as building partnerships; coordinating law enforcement; training Project Safe Childhood partners; public awareness; and accountability. Through the initiative, the Department of Justice aims to coordinate and cooperate with federal, tribal, state, local, and international organizations to prevent the sexual exploitation of children.
The CSE Institute commends the work of the FBI, the FBI Pittsburgh Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, the FBI Albany Mid-State Child Exploitation Task Force, the FBI Albany Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania for their diligent work on this case and prosecuting these horrific crimes against children. We applaud all the organizations involved, not only for their dedication to ensuring the safety of children, but also for recognizing those who attempt to purchase sex are the root cause of sexual exploitation.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.