On December 4, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the arrests of Craig Coins, Jr., 30, and Aubreanna Odendahl, 26, both of Mississippi, after the pair allegedly transported a child from Mississippi to Tioga County, Pennsylvania for purposes of sexual exploitation. Reports allege the pair intended to exploit the child by producing child pornography, or child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment alleges that the minor was transported from state to state in April 2023, and the alleged criminal conduct took place from March to May of that year in Tioga County and elsewhere. Reports indicate that the indictment does not provide any information on any connections between the defendants and Tioga County or where they live in Mississippi. Further, the age and sex of the minor are reportedly not included in the indictment.
Coins and Odendahl were both indicted on charges involving conspiracy, sex trafficking of a minor, transportation of a minor for sexual activities, and production of child pornography.
According to reports, Odendahl was arraigned in July and placed on home detention in Mississippi under court supervision, where she may not have contact with Coins or unsupervised contact with juveniles except for her half-sister. Coins is reportedly being held in county jail in Mississippi where he awaits his arraignment, scheduled for January 15, 2025.
To find an individual guilty of sex trafficking of a minor, the prosecution must only prove that the defendant engaged in recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, providing, obtaining, advertising, maintaining, patronizing, or soliciting a minor who is or will be subject to sexual servitude. Because the victim is a minor, the Government does not need to prove the defendant knew or recklessly disregarded the victim’s age, nor does the Government have to prove that anything of value was exchanged for the sex act. Under both federal and state law, any commercial sexual exploitation of minors constitutes sex trafficking because children cannot consent to be bought or sold for sex.
To find an individual guilty of production of child sexual abuse material, the government must only prove the defendant employed, used, persuaded, induced, enticed, or coerced any minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct with the intent to either produce a visual depiction or transmit a live visual depiction of such sexually explicit conduct. Like sex trafficking, the government does not have to prove that the defendant knew the child’s age. Just as children cannot legally consent to being bought and sold for sex, they cannot consent to having images of their abuse recorded and distributed. Every explicit photo or video of a child is actually evidence that the child has been a victim of sexual abuse.
Lastly, to find an individual guilty of transportation of a minor for sexual activities, the government must prove that the defendant knowingly transported a minor with intent that the minor engage in any sexual activity.
If the reported facts are proven to be true, these charges are all appropriate for both defendants. By transporting the minor from Mississippi to Pennsylvania for the purposes of creating child sexual abuse material, the defendants committed one of the acts required to satisfy the elements of the human trafficking charge while also satisfying the elements of production of child sexual abuse material and transportation of a minor for sexual activities.
The maximum penalty under federal law is up to life in prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
The CSE Institute commends the Wellsboro Police Department, Mississippi Capitol Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their collaborative efforts to hold the defendants accountable for their crimes against a minor.
The CSE Institute will continue to provide updates as this matter unfolds.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.
since fed- no conspiracy charge right?