GLOUCESTER COUNTY, Va. – A Pennsylvania man will spend five years in prison for one count of soliciting a minor for nude photographs, according to the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office.
A judge accepted a guilty plea and sentenced Jeffrey Kerila, 24, to a 20 year prison sentence with 15 years suspended.
Kerila will also be required to register as a sex offender indefinitely.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Kerila used the social media app “Scout” to contact minors in Gloucester County for the purposes of soliciting nude pictures.
Authorities say Kerila solicited nude photographs from two minors in Gloucester County who were both under the age of 10 years old at the time of the offense. The criminal charges and conviction came after an online investigation that began as an online tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office is affiliated with the “Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force,” a national task force that focuses on investigating computer related criminal activity involving the exploitation of children. The sheriff’s office has been working with ICAC since 2002 and is the coordinating agency in its region.
