Local sex offender charged with soliciting child pornography

The United States Department of Justice reported to Historic City News today that 46-year-old Kenneth Brian Hanger of St Augustine, a registered sexual offender, has been arrested and charged by a federal criminal complaint with soliciting child pornography using the internet.

In 1994, Hanger was convicted of aggravated indecent assault in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Because of his prior sex offense conviction, he faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 25 years, and up to 50 years, in federal prison, and a potential life term of supervision. Hanger is currently being detained pending his detention hearing on July 6, 2018.

According to the criminal complaint, on May 22, 2018, a detective with the St Johns County Sheriff’s Office reviewed sexual offender registration information provided by Hanger, in which Hanger disclosed his use of a Facebook account that did not list his true name.

Posing as a 13-year-old, the detective sent a “friend request” to this account and Hanger accepted the request. Between May 24, 2018 and June 5, 2018, Hanger and the detective, posing as a child, engaged in online conversations on several occasions using a texting application.

On June 1, 2018, Hanger raised the topic of sexual activity between himself and the “child” and suggested that he and the “child” meet to engage in sex. On June 4, 2018, Hanger and the “child” again discussed meeting for sex, and Hanger sent the “child” a photo of his penis. Later that same day, Hanger solicited the “child” to produce and send him a graphic video depicting “her” genitalia. Two days later, SJSO detectives arrested Hanger at his residence in St Augustine. During an interview, Hanger admitted that he had engaged in online conversations with the 13-year-old “child,” that he had sent “her” a photo of his own genitalia, and that he had stated his intentions to engage in sex.

This case was investigated by the St Johns County Sheriff’s Office and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.