South Windsor man accused of enticing boy, 15, by computer
Nov. 15—A South Windsor man is facing serious felony charges based on evidence he exchanged sexually explicit messages and pictures with a 15-year-old out-of-state boy who told his local police department he participated "because he wanted to feel as though someone cared about him."
Drew McFarland, 20, of 12 Riverview Drive is facing charges that include promoting a minor in an obscene performance and importing child pornography, each carrying up to 20 years in prison, Hartford Superior Court records show. He is also facing lesser felony counts of risk of injury to a child, enticing a minor by computer, and third-degree child pornography possession.
McFarland is free on a $100,000 bond on conditions that include having only supervised contact with minors and not using the internet, records show.
The boy told his local police that "he had been taken advantage of in the past and wanted someone to look up to," according to an affidavit by South Windsor police Detective Kevin Geraci. The out-of-state community the boy lives in was blacked out in the affidavit.
The boy went on to say that, although he sent nude photos to an online gamer he knew as "Rhys" — whom police say they have identified as McFarland — because he wanted to feel someone cared about him, "this made him feel awful."
ENTICEMENT CASE
DEFENDANT: Drew McFarland, 20, of 12 Riverview Drive, South Windsor
CHARGES: Promoting a minor in an obscene performance, importing child pornography, risk of injury to a child, enticing a minor by computer, third-degree child pornography possession
STATUS: Free on $100,000 bond, due back Jan. 22 in Hartford Superior Court. Release conditions include having only supervised contact with minors and not using the internet.
McFarland admitted to South Windsor police more than a month before the investigation began that he had "groomed" a boy through sexual conversations online, Geraci reported.
The detective explained that another person who had communicated online with McFarland reported to South Windsor police on June 28 that McFarland threatened to kill himself. When officers went to McFarland's house to check on his welfare, they found him standing outside because he thought the officers were there to arrest him, the detective reported.
McFarland admitted he had told the online contact that he wanted to die and had experienced a panic attack, explaining he had committed a crime and was afraid to go to prison, according to the detective. He said he had groomed the boy, whom he believed to be 15, but added they hadn't planned to meet in person, Geraci reported.
The South Windsor police investigation of McFarland's interactions with the 15-year-old began on Aug. 10 after police received a tip filed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that was passed on by state police, Geraci reported.
McFarland's lawyer, John D. Maxwell, declined comment on the case.
Geraci reported that he reviewed online conversations between McFarland and the 15-year-old, which the boy's local police department had obtained from an online communications service through a search warrant.
"The majority of their discussions were graphic and sexual," the detective reported.
McFarland and the boy "admitted that their relationship and behavior are wrong and illegal throughout their conversation," Geraci continued. He reported that McFarland told the boy, "Listen, I trust you enough to keep what we do between us."
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