A U.S. judge on Friday sent a Westmoreland County predator to federal prison for two decades for coercing children in his care into sexually explicit conduct so he could record it.
U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan imposed a term of 240 months on Michael Wilson, 44, of Derry.
Wilson had been indicted last year following an investigation by state and local police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He entered a guilty plea in December to six counts related to producing and possessing child porn material related to the recordings he made.
Details of the case are sparse. But on multiple occasions from 2019 through 2021, Wilson enticed five minors to engage in sexually explicit actions for the purpose of producing child porn in the form of videos and images in digital files. The victims were both boys and girls.
The parties agreed to the 20-year sentence.
Federal prosecutors also asked for a lifetime of probation, saying Wilson has a “deviant sexual interest in children” as shown by his secret recording of children engaged in sexual activity, his online words and his distribution of an image of one of the children to someone else online during a conversation about sexually abusing children.
“The conduct here simply shocks the conscience,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Heidi Grogan said in a sentencing memo. “Given the relationship between the defendant and his minor victims, the defendant’s crimes illustrate a disturbing betrayal of trust.”
The judge rejected the lifetime supervision request but imposed a term of 15 years. The families of two victims also requested a no-contact order, which Ranjan granted.
He also ordered Wilson to pay $6,000 in restitution.
Wilson will be in his mid-60s when he gets out of prison, and in his late 70s when he is released from court oversight.
Torsten covers the courts for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Reach him at jtorsteno@gmail.com.
