How a 23-Year-Old Sex Offender Manipulated a 12-Year-Old

MINNEAPOLIS (WJON News) -- A registered sex offender who used to live in St. Cloud has been sentenced on federal child pornography charges.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says 23-year-old Robert Levi of Minneapolis was sentenced to 27 years in prison for the production of child pornography after exploiting the victim for years.

Starting in February 2022, Levi posed as a 16-year-old boy to coerce a 12-year-old girl from another state to produce child sexual abuse material and send it to him over the internet. Levi "catfished" the victim into believing the two were in a relationship between 2022 and 2025.

Levi was found guilty in Stearns County District Court in 2025 of 2nd-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a six-year-old child.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says Levi's state court conviction did not stop him from exploiting the 12-year-old girl, as the abuse continued even after he was sentenced to probation.

The case is a result of an FBI investigation.

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Source: Registered Sex Offender Sentenced for Exploiting a Child Online

Categories: Minnesota News