Illinois man sentenced to prison after coercing and enticing Massachusetts minor less than two months after prison release

BOSTON – An Illinois man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for coercing and enticing a minor to produce sexually explicit images and videos.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, 25-year-old Domenique Dequon Hines of Crystal Lake, Ill. was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young to 19 years in prison and five years of supervised release. In September 2022, Hines pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.

“Less than two months after being released from prison for a child pornography offense, Mr. Hines went right back to exploiting and sexualizing children. He used social media to target, coerce and threaten a 14-year-old victim for his own sexual gratification. Mr. Hines is a danger to our children and accordingly, he will be removed from our community for nearly two decades,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins. “Protecting the safety, innocence and wellbeing of our children, especially from the threat of online predators like Mr. Hines, is a top priority.”

“Domenique Dequon Hines is a calculating and manipulative predator who targeted, exploited, and harmed a vulnerable child for life. No sentence for this man will wipe away the scars he left on his 14-year-old victim, and our thoughts are with both her and her family today,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Boston Division. “It is the FBI’s sincere hope that his punishment—almost two decades behind bars—will deter others from engaging in this repulsive, criminal conduct.”

In October 2020, approximately six weeks after being released from serving a sentence in Illinois for a child pornography offense, Hines met a 14-year-old Massachusetts victim on Instagram. Hines and the victim exchanged phone numbers and profile pictures and began communicating online via iMessage and other forms of internet communication for a period of approximately 10 days. On the first day of communications, Hines confirmed with the victim that she was 14 years old and he informed the victim that he is 23 years old. After confirming her age, Hines knowingly persuaded, induced, enticed and coerced the victim to take and send him, sexually explicit images and videos of herself. Hines requested that the victim call him “daddy,” and explained that if her parents ever try to take her phone, she should delete all of their text messages.

Hines was previously convicted of a child pornography offense in the state of Illinois.

U.S. Attorney Rollins, FBI SAC Bonavolonta and Norfolk County District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus and Christopher R. Looney of Rollins’ Criminal Division prosecuted the case.