A Columbia woman has pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, according to an announcement from David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. Alyson Cranick, 44, entered her plea before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport.
Court documents and statements indicate that Cranick used text messaging, Snapchat, and later the internet chat service Discord to coerce an 11-year-old boy into sexually explicit conduct with her. Authorities say that on several occasions during the summer and fall of 2022, Cranick induced the minor victim to leave his home after midnight to meet with her, during which she sexually assaulted him.
Between July and October 2022, Cranick exchanged more than 4,700 messages with the minor victim on Discord.
Cranick was arrested on related state charges on November 14, 2023, and has been detained since November 28, 2023. She was federally charged in July 2024.
Judge Dooley scheduled sentencing for February 12. Cranick faces a mandatory minimum prison term of ten years and could receive up to life imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force—which includes federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies—and the Connecticut State Police’s Eastern District Major Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel E. Cummings and Katherine E. Boyles are prosecuting the case as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative.
U.S. Attorney Sullivan expressed appreciation for collaboration with other agencies: “U.S. Attorney Sullivan thanked the State’s Attorney’s Office for the Judicial District of Tolland for its close cooperation in investigating and prosecuting this matter.”
Information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
Reports of child exploitation can be made at www.cybertipline.com.
