NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Columbia, Conn. woman has been charged by federal criminal complaint with enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, according to a release Tuesday from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Alyson Cranick, 43, has her first federal court appearance scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m. in New Haven, prosecutors said. She was arrested on related state charges on Nov. 14, 2023, and has been detained in state custody since Nov. 28, 2023, according to the release.
Court documents and statements allege that Cranick first contacted the 11-year-old minor on Snapchat before using the internet chat service Discord, a free app that enables real-time communication using text, voice and video chat.
Prosecutors said Cranick “enticed an 11-year-old boy to engage in sexually explicit conduct with her,” the release said.
On multiple occasions during the summer of 2022, the minor left his house after midnight to meet with Cranick to engage in sexual activity, according to prosecutors. Between July and October that year, Cranick allegedly exchanged over 4,700 messages with the 11-year-old victim on Discord.
The release said that the charge of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity is punishable by a mandatory 10-year prison sentence and up to a maximum term of life imprisonment.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation Task Force and the Connecticut State Police’s Eastern District Major Crime Unit are investigating the case. Prosecutors said the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force consists of federal, state and local law enforcement partners.
The case is being prosecuted through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which aims to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation, the release said.
U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said in the release that a charge alone is not evidence of guilt, but she thanked the State’s Attorney’s Office for the Judicial District of Tolland for closely cooperating in the investigation and prosecution of the case.
One can click here for more information about Project Safe Childhood, and to report cases of child exploitation, one can click here.
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