A 21-year-old Gresham man is accused of traveling from Oregon to Connecticut to have sex with a 14-year-old girl in June after he started communicating with the girl when she was 12 via Snapchat, TikTok and text messages, prosecutors allege.
Canyon Beasley flew to Connecticut on June 12, rented an Airbnb and videotaped the sex he had with the girl, an FBI agent wrote in a federal affidavit unsealed Monday.
Oregon’s U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman denied Beasley’s release to his father’s home before his scheduled appearance in federal court in Connecticut. The judge said she’s concerned about the nature of the alleged crime and the potential harm to other young people.
The risk is “too great” that Beasley could continue to reach out to other minors, Beckerman said.
The father of the girl in Connecticut contacted the FBI and Connecticut State Police after learning of his daughter’s contact and online communications with Beasley from her friends, according to the FBI.
Police searched the girl’s phone and found sexually explicit images that Beasley sent to her, including graphic messages that suggested Beasley knew the girl’s young age, according to the affidavit. In one March message sent via Snapchat he’s accused of writing, in part: “I don’t care if you’re 13.”
In another message, he threatened to “kill” the girl if she ignored him, the affidavit said.
When questioned by the FBI, the Connecticut girl said she believed it was normal to send naked photos of herself because she believed she was in a relationship.
A search of Beasley’s Snapchat account turned up about 39 images and videos of child sexual abuse, including explicit images and videos of the Connecticut girl, according to the FBI.
After the girl’s father alerted the FBI on June 18, the girl apparently told Beasley of the federal investigation, according to prosecutors.
Two days later, Beasley wrote to her on Snapchat, “Please don’t let him do this Please … We will both be in massive trouble. They kill people like me in prison Because they won’t understand,” according to the affidavit.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Rochat argued against Beasley’s release pending trial, saying she’s concerned about witness tampering. Assistant Federal Public Defender Julie Pitt Vandiver had argued for Beasley’s release, saying he could live with his father, work in his father’s business and otherwise be subjected to home detention.
Beasley will be transported by the U.S. Marshal’s Service to appear in federal court in New Haven on allegations of producing and possessing child sex abuse images, receiving child sex abuse images and traveling to engage in sex with a minor.
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