21-Year-Old Riverside County Man Sexually Exploited NY Teen; She Spoke Up

ALBANY, N.Y. — A 21-year-old Riverside County man has been sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison for receiving child sexual abuse material and sending obscene images to a teenage girl in upstate New York, authorities announced Tuesday.

Devin Ravine, of Riverside, who also went by the name "Derek Johnson," was sentenced Oct. 22 by U.S. District Judge Anne M. Nardacci to 78 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release.

According to prosecutors, Ravine contacted a 15-year-old girl on a dating application, sent her sexually explicit photographs of himself, and directed her to produce explicit videos. The girl complied and sent him a sexually explicit video of herself.

The victim reported the abuse to authorities after FBI agents visited her Capital Region school during an outreach presentation on internet safety and sextortion awareness, officials said.

"This predator abused a 15-year-old girl in the Northern District of New York and was charged federally and brought back from California to face justice," First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III said in a statement. "This office has zero tolerance for child predators and abusers."

Craig L. Tremaroli, special agent in charge of the FBI's Albany Field Office, commended the teenager for speaking up.

"Today, our thoughts are with the brave student who heard our message, recognized what was happening to her, and reported it to our team," Tremaroli said. "No matter where the predator is located, our Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force will use every resource necessary to track them down and send them to prison."

The investigation was conducted by the FBI Albany Field Office with assistance from the FBI Riverside Field Office, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Belliss prosecuted the case.

The prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse.