Man who tried to have his child-porn victim killed is headed to prison

Also: Camden County Man Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison for Hiring Hitman Via Internet (U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey)

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Source: Associated Press

Man who tried to have his child-porn victim killed is headed to prison

Published 9:15 AM EDT, June 28, 2023

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey man has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison after exchanging sexually explicit videos and images with a 13-year-old New York girl and later paying $20,000 in bitcoin to have her killed, eventually calling it off.

John Michael Musbach, 34, of Haddonfield, received his 78-month prison term Tuesday during a court hearing in Camden, according to federal prosecutors. He will also have to serve three years of supervised release after prison.

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Musbach was arrested on child pornography charges in March 2016 and pleaded guilty to child endangerment in October 2017. He received a two-year suspended prison sentence and was placed on lifetime parole.

In May 2016, Musbach started communicating with the administrator of a murder-for-hire site on the darknet, while his criminal case was pending, officials have said. After asking whether the girl was too young to target and being told the age wasn’t a problem, prosecutors said, Musbach paid about $20,000 in bitcoin for the hit.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/new-jersey-child-porn-murder-plot-91ca289f7d9ab375fc1aa2f702178c76

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Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey

Camden County Man Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison for Hiring Hitman Via Internet

Tuesday, June 27, 2023
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Camden County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 78 months in prison for paying $20,000 in bitcoin to have a 14-year old child murdered, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

John Michael Musbach, 34, of Haddonfield, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to an indictment charging him with one count of knowingly and intentionally using and causing another to use a facility of interstate and foreign commerce, that is the internet, with the intent that a murder be committed. Judge Rodriguez imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In the summer of 2015, Musbach exchanged via the internet sexually explicit photographs and videos with the victim, a 13-year-old living in New York. The victim’s parents found out about the inappropriate contact and contacted the local police. Upon identifying Musbach, then a resident of Atlantic County, New Jersey, New York law enforcement officers reached out to the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office (ACPO). In March 2016, officers from the ACPO arrested Musbach on child pornography charges and executed a search warrant at his residence, then in Galloway, New Jersey.

Musbach decided to have the victim killed so that the victim could not testify against him in the pending criminal case. During the period from May 7, 2016, through May 20, 2016, Musbach repeatedly communicated with the administrator of a murder-for-hire website, which operated on the dark net, and which purported to offer contract killings or other acts of violence in return for payment in cryptocurrency, and arranged for a murder-for-hire. Musbach asked if a 14-year-old was too young to target, and upon hearing that the age was not a problem, paid approximately 40 bitcoin (approximately $20,000 at the time) for the hit. Musbach repeatedly messaged the website’s administrator following up on the hit and asking when it would occur. When pressed for an additional $5,000 to secure the hit, Musbach eventually sought to cancel and asked for a refund of his $20,000. The website’s administrator then revealed that the website was a scam and threatened to reveal Musbach’s information to law enforcement.

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Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/camden-county-man-sentenced-78-months-prison-hiring-hitman-internet