HARRISBURG, PA — A California man has been sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison for distributing child pornography and orchestrating a bomb threat hoax as part of a retaliatory campaign against a minor in Pennsylvania, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced.
Nathaniel Sean DeLeon, 20, of Tulare, California, was sentenced on May 20, 2025, by U.S. District Judge Karoline Mehalchick to 78 months in federal prison. His conviction stems from a series of online threats and exploitation targeting a 16-year-old minor in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 2023.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus, DeLeon met the minor through the online gaming platform Roblox and initiated a relationship that later ended. Between June and November 2023, DeLeon launched a campaign of harassment that included making 23 swatting calls—false emergency reports intended to provoke armed law enforcement responses—most of which targeted the minor’s home.
On November 30, 2023, DeLeon escalated his threats by impersonating the minor and contacting a suicide prevention service. He falsely claimed there were pipe bombs planted at Big Spring High School and that he (as the minor) was armed with a shotgun in a car outside the school. The threat prompted the evacuation of approximately 650 students and staff, though no explosive devices were found.
In the same month, DeLeon also distributed a sexually explicit video of the minor on two separate occasions.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney David C. Williams prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child exploitation and abuse. The program brings together federal, state, and local agencies to identify and prosecute offenders and protect victims. For more information, visit www.justice.gov/psc.
