Peru police assist in federal conviction of sex offender

A federal jury in Chicago convicted an Ohio man of enticing a 16-year-old Illinois girl into sending him sexually explicit images of herself, and among the agencies that assisted in the investigation were the Peru Police Department and La Salle County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Andrew Boltz, 25, of Kenton, Ohio, was convicted Tuesday on all five counts against him, including four counts of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of receipt of child pornography.

Each exploitation conviction is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum of 30 years. The child pornography conviction is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a maximum of 20 years.

U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey did not immediately set a sentencing date.

“On behalf of Chief [Sarah] Raymond and all of us at the Peru Police Department, we commend Detective Sgt. John Atkins for his outstanding police work in this comprehensive and lengthy investigation,” Lt. Doug Bernabei said in a news release. “Last week he spent several days in Chicago and testified in federal court in the trial leading to the guilty verdict in this case. Matters like this have been and always will be a priority to our agency as we seek justice on behalf of children.”

Boltz began communicating with the then-16-year-old girl in January 2020 on the social media app Omegle, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern Illinois District.

Boltz continued communicating with her via text messaging and the social media app Snapchat. During these communications, Boltz enticed the victim into sending him sexually explicit images of herself.

Boltz was convicted after a six-day trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to https://www.missingkids.org or calling 1-800-843-5678. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.