A California man who admitted exploiting a 15-year-old girl in New York’s Capital Region was sentenced Oct. 22 to 78 months in federal prison.
Devin Ravine, 21, of Riverside, California, will also serve five years of supervised release for receiving child pornography and transferring obscene material to a minor, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.
U.S. District Judge Anne Nardacci imposed the sentence. Ravine, who also used the name Derek Johnson, had previously pleaded guilty to the federal offenses.
As part of that plea, Ravine admitted contacting the teenager through a dating application, sending her sexually explicit images and directing her to make sexually explicit videos. Prosecutors said the girl sent him a video.
The girl reported the abuse to law enforcement after FBI agents visited her school in the Capital Region to talk with students about internet safety and sextortion.
Craig Tremaroli, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Albany field office, credited the student with recognizing the abuse and reporting it after hearing the agents’ message. He said the bureau’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force would pursue offenders regardless of where they are located.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sarcone said Ravine was brought back from California to face the federal case in New York. Sarcone credited the FBI’s Albany field office for its investigative work.
The FBI investigated with help from its Riverside field office, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Belliss prosecuted the case.
The Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood initiative coordinates federal, state and local efforts to investigate and prosecute online child exploitation and identify and rescue victims. More information about the initiative is available on the Justice Department’s website.
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