TROY, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) – A former New York man pleaded guilty in federal court to traveling to sexually assault a child in New Hampshire.

According to a news release from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), in July of 2022 Blake Hall, 21, traveled from his then-home in New York to New Hampshire to meet a 12-year-old girl with whom he’d been communicating with on social media.

No information about the girl will be released, but the DOJ did note that the Troy, New Hampshire Police Department assisted in the investigation.

Hall transported the child to his home in New York where he engaged her in illegal sexual activity and took sexually explicit photographs of her, before returning her home to New Hampshire the next day.

Hall pleaded guilty to travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 14, 2025. He’s facing up to 30 years in prison, at least five years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.

The case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide effort to combat child exploitation and abuse. It was launched in May 2006 by the DOJ, and meant to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Homeland Security Investigations lead the investigation with assistance from the New Hampshire State Police and Homeland Security Investigations- Albany, along with the Troy Police Department.