Minnesota Sex Offender Sentenced for Child Pornography Production

Minneapolis, MN (MinnesotaNow)- A Minnesota sex offender has been sentenced to nearly three decades in prison for a child pornography production conviction. 

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That’s according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Minnesota Tuesday night. 

Federal prosecutors alleged he exchanged over 100,000 messages with the victim over a three year period and that he became a sex offender during that time. 

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Minnesota Sex Offender Sentenced for Coercing Young Girl into Sending Sexually Explicit Images

Robert James Levi was accused of “catfishing” the victim, who was 12 when the messages began, by posing as a 16-year-old boy online. 

Court documents say he convinced the young girl, who lives out of state, that they were in a relationship. 

The news release says Levi “coerced and enticed” the victim into sending him sexually explicit images of herself over the internet over a three-year period that began in February of 2022. 

Criminal Sexual Conduct Conviction in 2024

In 2024, Levi was convicted of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in Stearns County and was required to register as a predatory offender as part of that conviction. 

Federal prosecutors say Levi continued soliciting sexually explicit images from the victim while the central Minnesota case proceeded and after he was convicted and sentenced to probation. 

Levi was sentenced to 324 months in prison for the federal conviction.