Source: US FBI
DULUTH, Minn. – Dillon Alvan Reyna, age 33, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court before Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan to 264 months of imprisonment followed by 15 years supervised release for Coercion and Enticement of a Minor, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.
“No parent should have to wonder if their child is safe at a park,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. “Yet here, a repeat sex offender in his 30s targeted and picked up a vulnerable child from a Duluth park—a child who had already endured abuse. That is beyond appalling. We are seeing a disturbing rash of men in Minnesota attempting to buy or coerce sex from children. Let me be clear: it is predatory, it is criminal, and it will be met with the full force of federal prosecution. We will not allow offenders to turn our parks and neighborhoods into hunting grounds for children.”
In October 2022, Reyna, a man in his early 30s and a repeat sex offender, met a minor in a local park in Duluth. The minor victim was under the age of 16 and, as Reyna knew, she was uniquely vulnerable and receiving care for prior sexual abuse. For months, Reyna used all manner of coercive techniques to manipulate the minor victim into having sex with him. Reyna gave the victim gifts and rides that were conditioned on her sexual cooperation. He also used physical force during sex, and filmed the sex without the minor victim’s knowledge. Reyna used social media accounts to communicate with the minor victim.
Reyna’s conduct was halted by law enforcement, who tracked the minor victim to Reyna’s apartment building. When confronted by law enforcement, Reyna lied, falsely claiming he had never met the minor victim. Reyna instructed the minor victim to lie to the police. The minor victim bravely disclosed the abuse she suffered at Reyna’s hand to law enforcement. From jail, Reyna later told an associate to delete various social media accounts in an effort to cover up his crimes against the minor victim. Reyna’s attempts to obstruct justice were unsuccessful.
Reyna previously admitted guilt for a separate sex offense. In 2021, Reyna admitted guilt in St. Louis County, Minnesota, for Third Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct – Force or Coercion. He was given a stay of adjudication.
In handing down the sentencing, United Staets Judge Bryan noted the aggravating circumstances surrounding this case.
Hands-on sexual abuse inflicts upon its victim immense and long-lasting harm. That the abuse is inflicted on a child and then recorded and memorialized in child pornography adds devastating dimensions to the harm inflicted on minor victims. As the Supreme Court observed about the victim of a child sexual assault, “the nature of her injuries caused more prolonged physical and mental suffering than, say, a sudden killing by an unseen assassin. The attack was not just on her but on her childhood. . . .” Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407, 435 (2008); see also United States v. Pugh, 515 F.3d 1179, 1197-98 & n.12 (11th Cir. 2008) (citing extensive congressional findings about the harm caused by child pornography and recognizing that “[i]n light of these detailed legislative findings and numerous legislative enactments, we cannot help but underscore the seriousness of this crime”).
“Reyna’s actions were a reprehensible attack on the safety and innocence of a vulnerable child,” said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of FBI Minneapolis. “Far from rehabilitation, as a repeat sex offender, Reyna chose to again violate and exploit a minor victim in unthinkably heinous ways through coercion, manipulation, and force. This victim, already the brave survivor of abuse, suffered at his hands and again though the filming of the assault. This victim deserves the full weight of justice to be leveraged against Reyna. The FBI hopes this sentence shows our unflinching commitment to pursuing justice for all victims of similar abuse and sends the message to all offenders—you will be pursued, prosecuted, and punished.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office commends the bravery of the victim in this case. Without her courage, Reyna would still be on the streets, a threat to abusing more children. Now he is where he belongs—in federal prison.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Duluth Police Department, and the Hermantown Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys David B. Green and Evan B. Gilead prosecuted the case.