According to court documents, 29-year-old Robert John Newman, Jr., of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, targeted the teen online between December 2024 and Jan. 4, 2025. Investigators say he befriended the girl through social media, lied about himself, and relentlessly coerced her into sending child sexual abuse material.
On Jan. 4, 2025, Newman traveled to the girl’s home in Winston County while her mother was away. Authorities say the mother checked her home security cameras and saw a man inside her daughter’s bedroom. When she arrived home, she found Newman lying on her daughter’s bed. Court records state the mother pulled him off the bed, pinned him against a wall, and demanded his driver’s license. Newman fled the home but left his license behind.
On Jan. 22, 2025, Newman was arrested in Pennsylvania on Alabama warrants. During the arrest, law enforcement seized his iPhone. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, agents found conversations between Newman and the victim, along with child sexual abuse material.
Investigators also discovered evidence that the Winston County teen was not his only alleged victim. After returning to Pennsylvania, Newman was reportedly communicating with an 11-year-old girl in Colorado.
Newman was indicted in April 2025 and pleaded guilty in October 2025 to sexual exploitation of children, coercion and enticement of a minor, and travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
In February 2026, a federal judge sentenced him to 40 years in prison.
