NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FEDERAL LAWYERS
What is online harassment of minors
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group – a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek. We have over 40 years of combined experience handling criminal defense cases that others won’t touch. You’ve probably heard about some of the cases we’re famous for – the Anna Delvey Netflix series, the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case, and defending clients in the Alec Baldwin stalking matter. If you’re reading this article, you’re likely facing federal charges related to online harassment of minors, or someone you care about is under investigation.
Online harassment of minors isn’t one single federal crime – it’s a category that includes multiple statutes with wildly different penalties. Understanding which law applies to your case makes the difference between 5 years in federal prison and a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life. Federal prosecutors don’t mess around when minors are involved, the FBI issued a public warning in March 2025 about violent online networks targeting children as young as 9 years old. This is the government’s priority right now.
Federal Cyberstalking Under 18 USC 2261A
The baseline federal statute for online harassment is 18 USC 2261A – the federal cyberstalking law. This statute makes it a crime to use “any interactive computer service or electronic communication service” to engage in conduct that places someone in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or causes substantial emotional distress to that person. The law was expanded in 2013 under amendments to the Violence Against Women Act.
What does this mean in practice? If you sent messages, emails, social media posts, or any online communications that made a minor fear for their safety or caused them serious emotional distress – and those communications crossed state lines or used the internet – you can be charged federally. The emotional distress has to be substantial, not just being upset or annoyed, but federal prosecutors have become very aggressive about what counts as substantial.
Here’s what separates online harassment cases from other federal crimes – the penalty enhancement when the victim is under 18. The base penalty for cyberstalking under 2261A is up to 5 years in federal prison. But if the victim is a minor, the maximum imprisonment increases by 5 years. That means you’re looking at up to 10 years instead of 5. If your conduct caused serious bodily harm or included credible threats of death or violence, the sentence jumps to 20 years. If the victim dies, you face life imprisonment.
Todd Spodek has handled federal stalking cases where the government stretched the definition of “substantial emotional distress” beyond recognition. One case involved a client who sent what he thought were harmless messages to a minor he met online – the government claimed it caused the victim to miss school and suffer anxiety. That’s enough for federal prosecutors to charge you.
Enticement of a Minor Carries Mandatory Minimums
The more serious charge you need to understand is enticement of a minor under 18 USC 2422(b). This is not just harassment – this is using the internet to persuade, induce, entice, or coerce anyone under 18 to engage in illegal sexual activity. The critical distinction is intent. If prosecutors believe your online communications were attempting to lure a minor into sexual conduct, they’ll charge you under 2422(b) instead of 2261A.
The penalties are brutal. Enticement of a minor carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison, up to life. There’s no safety valve, no way to get below that 10-year floor if you’re convicted. Even if you never met the minor in person, even if no physical contact ever occurred, you face a decade minimum in federal prison if the government proves you used a phone, computer, or messaging app to entice a minor.
Peter Bardunias was charged in October 2025 with attempted enticement after allegedly sending messages to someone he believed was a 15-year-old girl, discussing violent sexual activity. He traveled to meet the person and was arrested. That’s how these cases work – undercover operations, sting operations, and aggressive federal task forces targeting anyone who crosses the line from harassment into enticement.
Reports of child enticement incidents increased by more than 300% between 2021 and 2023 alone. Federal child enticement is one of the most aggressively prosecuted crimes in the country right now. The FBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children task forces are running operations in every state, they have the resources and the mandate to go after anyone suspected of online enticement.
What Actually Triggers Federal Jurisdiction
Not every case of online harassment becomes federal. The government needs jurisdiction, which typically comes from interstate commerce. If you used the internet – and you almost certainly did – that’s interstate commerce. If you sent a text message that crossed state lines, if you used a social media platform, if you made a phone call from one state to another, the federal government can prosecute you.
The FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children unit investigates these cases. They work with local Internet Crimes Against Children task forces, and they use sophisticated tools to track online activity, encrypted messaging, anonymizing software. If you think deleting messages or using encrypted apps protects you, you’re wrong. The FBI has former prosecutors on staff who know exactly how to build these cases.
Federal jurisdiction also kicks in when there are multiple victims across different states, when the conduct involves facilities of interstate commerce, or when local law enforcement refers the case to federal authorities. Once the feds take your case, you’re in federal court – which means federal sentencing guidelines, no parole, and serving at least 85% of whatever sentence you receive.
Recent Cases Show How Harsh Federal Sentences Are
Lorenzo Arana was sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison in a case that started as cyberbullying. Arana used his large social media following to harass underage girls through blackmail. After soliciting sexually explicit material from a 12-year-old victim, he distributed those videos to her friends and classmates on social media. The victim attempted suicide. Arana was charged with distribution of child pornography in connection with the cyber-bullying, and the sentence handed down in December 2024 was over 210 months – 17.5 years.
That case shows how online harassment of minors quickly escalates into multiple federal charges. What might start as harassment becomes distribution of child pornography, becomes sexual exploitation of a minor, becomes a stack of federal counts that add up to decades in prison.
Another case from Massachusetts involved a serial cyberstalker who terrorized women for 16 years, including two who were minors when the conduct began. The defendant was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison. When agents searched his home in September 2024, they found stolen items from victims and child sexual abuse material. One case turns into multiple federal offenses.
The FBI issued a public service announcement in March 2025 warning about violent online networks that target minors between ages 10 and 17, with some victims as young as 9. These networks use threats, blackmail, and manipulation to coerce victims. Federal law enforcement is actively monitoring these networks and prosecuting anyone involved.
What You’re Up Against in Federal Court
If you’re charged with online harassment of minors in federal court, you need to understand the stakes. Federal sentencing guidelines for stalking and harassment fall under Section 2A6.1, which covers threatening or harassing communications, stalking, and domestic violence. The base offense level depends on the severity of conduct, whether there were threats, whether the victim suffered psychological harm, whether you violated a protective order.
But here’s what actually drives your sentence – enhancements. If the victim is a minor, that’s an enhancement. If you used a computer or interactive communication service, that can be an enhancement depending on how the conduct is charged. If there were multiple victims, if the conduct continued over a long period of time, if you violated conditions of release or a court order – every single factor increases your offense level, which increases your sentencing range.
Federal judges in 2025 are not sympathetic to online harassment of minors. The cultural moment we’re in, the FBI warnings, the 300% increase in enticement cases, the high-profile prosecutions – all of this means judges are handing down sentences at the top of the guideline range or above it. Cooperation with the government might get you a reduction, but cooperation in these cases often means admitting to conduct you didn’t think was criminal.
At Spodek Law Group, we’ve defended clients in federal cases where the government’s theory of the case was garbage, but the defendant still faced years in prison because of how the statutes are written. One client was charged with cyberstalking after sending messages to someone he believed was an adult – turned out to be a minor, and suddenly he’s looking at enhanced penalties. The intent element matters, but federal prosecutors are skilled at proving intent through your online communications, through patterns of behavior, through forensic evidence you didn’t know existed.
You need a defense attorney who understands federal computer crime statutes, who knows the case law on substantial emotional distress, who can challenge the government’s forensic evidence, who can argue for variances and departures from the sentencing guidelines. The Anna Delvey case made headlines because we fought a case everyone said was unwinnable. The Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case required understanding federal trial procedure at the highest level. These are the types of cases we take – the ones where the stakes are enormous and the government thinks they have you dead to rights.
If federal agents have contacted you, if you’ve been charged, if you’re under investigation for online harassment of minors – the worst thing you can do is talk to law enforcement without an attorney. Everything you say will be used to prove intent, to establish the elements of the offense, to enhance your sentence. The second worst thing you can do is hire an attorney who doesn’t handle federal cases. Federal criminal defense is a completely different world from state court, and many attorneys who are excellent state practitioners have no idea how federal prosecutions work.
We’re available 24/7 because federal investigations don’t happen on a 9-to-5 schedule. When the FBI executes a search warrant at 6am, when federal agents show up at your workplace, when you get a target letter from an Assistant U.S. Attorney – you need someone who can respond immediately, who understands what’s happening, who can protect your rights before you make statements that destroy your defense.
Online harassment of minors is not something federal prosecutors let slide. The penalties are severe, the investigations are thorough, and the sentences are harsh. But understanding which statute you’re charged under, what the government has to prove, and what defenses are available – that’s where experienced federal criminal defense makes the difference between the worst-case outcome and a result you can live with.