18-Year-Old Faces Possible 70 Years in Federal Prison for Snapchat Sexting Crime
When Beyer was 17, he made a fake account on Snapchat and started contacting girls about his same age. He was in high school at the time. The FBI became aware of his activity in June of 2021, probably because one of the girl’s parents found out what he was doing and brought her phone to the authorities. But the FBI waited until September, a month after Beyer turned 18, to act.
Then, at about 4:30 a.m., a SWAT team raided the house where Beyer lived with his dad and brother, and handcuffed all three, according to his mother, who is divorced and lives in Pennsylvania. Then they put Beyer in the cruiser for questioning. He was read his Miranda rights and responded, “I understand.”
When questioned, Beyer said that yes, the Snapchat account was his, and no, he wasn’t sharing it with anyone. He asked if his father could be there with him, but the agents said he was old enough to be alone. Then they told him, “We need your password.” Unaware that he could refuse, Beyer gave it to them, whereupon they opened his account and put him under arrest, according to his mother.
Beyer’s federal charges—two counts of knowingly producing and transporting child pornography and one of possessing it—carry far lengthier sentences. Each production charge is punishable by not less than 15 nor more than 30 years. The possession charge is 10 years.
These sentences could be served concurrently, but Melone says her son’s public defender has warned Beyer that they could also be “stacked”; in other words, he might have to serve them one after another. In that case, if convicted of all three charges, he would be facing a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 70 years behind bars. He’d get out at age 58 or age 88.
Discover more from Florida Action Committee (FAC)
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
“Florida has a legitimate interest in prescribing the manner in which it protects the health and welfare of its citizens from persons convicted of sex offenses,” said the 12-page ruling by Judges Adalberto Jordan, Robin Rosenbaum and Andrew Brasher.
“Florida need not dispense with its preferred method of doing so because another jurisdiction has less restrictive requirements on sex offender registration. As the district court essentially recognized, even if Oklahoma did not have any registration requirements for offenders like Mr. Lindsey, that legislative choice would not prevent Florida from enacting a sex offender registration scheme.”
He was better off actually having sex with them rather than asking for a picture His mother is in for a rude awakening if he does get sentenced to “only” 5 years and she magically thinks that is the end of the punishment. The real issue is life on the registry hopefully he fights the charges and cops to a reasonable charge.
Always follow the STFU Rule whenever the feds accuse you of committing a crime. If you didn’t already figure it out, STFU means Shut The F Up until a lawyer representing you is present.
As a guy who dated/chased older women in my youth, I’d have some women telling me that I’m “just a kid” when I was 18, 19 and 20.
Funny how when you want to date someone older when you’re 18, you’re “just a kid”, but when your 18 year old self (a kid) does something like this, suddenly and miraculously you’re a dangerous adult! Make it make sense please.
He is screwed with having a public defender.
You didn’t read the article.
Same thing happened to my autistic son. We had just lost my husband. A terrible time for our family. My son was arrested for making a remark. He was 16. He was overcharged as an adult. This is absolutely wrong