Michael Kealty, a former detective with the Smyrna Police Department in Delaware, pled guilty to coercing and enticing a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity. He will be sentenced on February 12, 2025, and faces a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison, with a maximum term of life.
U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss emphasized the betrayal of Kealty's oath to protect and serve, highlighting the priority of prosecuting child exploitation cases.
According to a local source:
In its investigation, the FBI discovered sexual conversations that Kealty had with a 16-year-old girl from April 2021 to October 2021, which included him asking for explicit photos of her. When she said she wasn't comfortable sending him pictures, court records show that Kealty asked for photos of her friends or sister…
Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-de/pr/ex-smyrna-detective-pleads-guilty-child-sexual-exploitation-charge and https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/crime/2024/10/15/ex-smyrna-delaware-police-department-detective-michael-kealty-pleads-guilty-to-coercing-minor/75690394007/
Commentary
In the source material, Kealty is alleged to have used communication apps Snapchat and Kik.
Snapchat is an app known to be used by sexual perpetrators. Perpetrators use Snapchat for various illicit activities, often exploiting the app's ephemeral nature to evade detection. Nevertheless, authorities can still retrieve unopened Snaps and Chats through subpoenas.
Kik is a free messaging app that allows users to send text messages, pictures, videos, and other information and is available on iOS and Android platforms. One of Kik's unique features is that it doesn't require a phone number for registration. Sign up is made with a username and an email address making it difficult to track identities. This anonymity can be attractive to children as well as those looking to share illegal content, such as child pornography, or to communicate without being easily tracked.
Nevertheless, Kik has worked with law enforcement to provide information that can help in investigations.
The final takeaway is that sexual perpetrators carefully select the applications they use to communicate with targets. Organizations that work with children should create strict standards approving only a certain communication avenue and prohibiting the use of certain communication applications, like Snapchat and Kik.
