Canonsburg Child Predator Sentenced For Sexual Exploitation Of Children

Saturday, September 6, 2025, 7:20 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

PITTSBURGH, PA.- A 37-year-old Southwestern Pennsylvania convicted child predator will be spending the next two decades in federal prison, after being sentenced last week for sexually exploiting children and destruction of evidence.

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti, on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, Justin Darby, 37, of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan to 240 months in federal prison, to be followed by ten years of supervised release for his conviction of violating federal law in connection with the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Destruction of Evidence.

     In handing down the sentence last Wednesday, in addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Ranjan ordered Darby to pay $28,000 in restitution to his identified victims.

According To Court Documents

     According to documents filed with the District Court, on or about October 28, 2028, during an ongoing child sexual exploitation investigation, Darby knowingly altered and destroyed records associated with a Social Media Instant Messaging application on his cellular phone with the intent to obstruct the investigation of Darby’s activities involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Darby altered and destroyed the evidence as Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation were attempting to execute a court-authorized search warrant at his residence.

     Darby was additionally convicted for attempting to induce and inducing a child to send him a digital image and video file, engaged in sexually explicit conduct over a Social Media application on February 6, 2024. Darby also accepted responsibility for additional charges involving the sexual exploitation of minors, including the enticement and inducement of three other children to send him digital images and video files of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct through text messages and various Social Media applications during 2023 and early 2024.

     In imposing the sentence, Judge Ranjan noted that the sentence was justified by Darby’s lack of respect for the law and continued pattern of criminal behavior.

     Acting U.S. Attorney Rivetti commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which led to the successful prosecution of Darby.