Michigan man sentenced to federal prison for child sex abuse

A man accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in the Upper Peninsula has been sentenced to federal prison.

Kelton Salowitz, 19, of Curtis, will spend 15 years behind bars, followed by 10 years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan announced in a press release.

His attorney, Elizabeth LaCosse, was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment Thursday.

His sentencing followed a months-long trial in federal court, according to online court records. Salowitz eventually pleaded guilty in July to repeatedly asking the girl, who lived in a different state, to send him sexually explicit photos and videos.

In opposing sentencing briefs filed this month, prosecutors portrayed Salowitz as a pedophile with “extreme anger issues” and a prior sexual offense, while LaCosse described him as “someone who desires to be a better person and to have mental health and a sexual life.” . The problems are under control.”

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According to his plea agreement, Salowitz communicated with the girl between January 24, 2023, and June 28, 2023, through the Discord application on his smartphone.

In a recovered video, Salowitz recorded a livestream of the girl performing sexual acts at his direction, authorities reported.

According to the statement made by the US Attorney’s Office, he requested similar content from another 12-year-old child but did not receive it. Investigators also found a collection of child pornography on his phone, including videos of men sexually abusing children.

According to the sentencing memorandum filed by LaCosse on Nov. 12, Salowitz was seeking help for sexual and mental health issues from a counselor who legally reported the abuse to police. The lawyer wrote that his brother and his father’s girlfriend’s daughter sexually abused him as a child.

LaCosse wrote that the counseling he received for a prior sexual offense against a minor was inadequate. Salowitz cooperated with authorities in this case, acknowledged the harassment, and gave police access to his digital devices and passwords, according to the statement.

“He realized he needed help and told his counselor the truth to get the help he needed,” LaCosse wrote. “That’s what we would want a person in the community struggling with mental health and trauma to do.”

LaCosse also argued that Salowitz did not threaten the 12-year-old girl when requesting sexually explicit content. In his memo, LaCosse wrote instead that the victim, who was also a child, and her friends and family “bullied and blackmailed” Salowitz, citing a sealed presentence report.

Prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum that Salowitz’s guilty plea in the case came after he had previously groped a 6-year-old girl while trying to get her to sit on his lap.

Prosecutors wrote that he was expelled from school in sixth grade for bringing a knife to school, and was suspended in high school for hiding a carpenter’s knife and a reciprocating saw blade in his locker. Salowitz was also disciplined for fighting and threatening students before administrators expelled him without a degree, according to the memorandum.

LaCosse claimed that Salowitz was expelled from school to escape bullying.

“But regardless of who or what caused Salowitz to become who he is, the fact remains that he is now an adult with criminal sexual tendencies and a recent history of obsession with violence and threatening others,” prosecutors wrote.

How authorities investigated

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan, the Mackinac County Sheriff’s Office and investigators from the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, cooperated on Salowitz’s case.

The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to find and prosecute people who exploit children online, according to the release.

“We cannot undo the harm Mr. Salowitz inflicted on children, but today’s sentencing is a measure of justice for victims and an important step to protect society,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in the statement. Without adequate guardrails, smartphones can allow criminals in the United States and around the world to access our children, monitor and allow their online activities, even from the safety of their homes. They know they can talk to you too if they mess up.”

Totten reiterates HSI 10 tips for parents The release also includes open conversation, setting time and space limits for devices, and recording usernames and screenshots as evidence for law enforcement.

Salowitz’s sentencing came a week after authorities arrested A Michigan man is now accused of abusing five children. Police found Joshua Charston Brown-Hill in a parked car with a naked 12-year-old girl, according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Federal investigators found evidence on his phone that he may have abused four other children besides himself, authorities said.

The U.S. Marshals Service also extradited 23-year-old Trentin McWilliams, recently from Norway and recently from California, to Dickinson County in September for two alleged sexual assaults on teenagers. he was connected The hearing will be held on Friday.

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How authorities investigated

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