Michigan man sentenced to 40 years in ‘horrific’ child pornography ring case

FLINT, Michigan. – A 42-year-old from Burton will spend the next 40 years behind bars for child sexual exploitation.

Nicholas Dunn was sentenced on Tuesday, August 20, after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. He will also serve five years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

The convictions and sentences stem from a federal investigation that uncovered a child pornography operation and led to the arrest of Dunn and three others in Genesee County.

How he got caught

Authorities say an unmasked Homeland Security Investigations agent created a profile on an encrypted instant messaging application in December 2022, posing as an adult with access to a child. While using the app, the agent said a user, later identified as Preston Creed-Boehm, shared child pornography with the agent.

According to a criminal complaint, Creed-Boehm then described to the undercover agent how he sexually abused children and shared videos of child pornography, as well as links to additional child pornography images stored online.

“Creed-Boehm also referred to himself as a ‘pedo,’ a term I believe is often used for a pedophile among people with a sexual interest in children,” the agent wrote in the complaint.

Search warrant served on Creed-Boehm’s home

Officers arrested Creed-Boehm and searched his home, where they reportedly found his cell phone, which still contained the account used to chat with the undercover agent.

The complaint alleges that police found hundreds of videos of child pornography on his phone. Creed-Boehm allegedly told authorities that a photo of a young girl was taken at Dunn’s home while both Dunn and Joshua Buren Hippensteel were present.

According to court documents, officers found a conversation between Creed-Boehm and Hippensteel in which they discussed sexual acts with a young girl.

Search warrant reveals abuse plan

Officers then searched Dunn’s Burton home while he and Hippensteel were both present.

Authorities said the search revealed Dunn’s extensive sexual abuse of five minor children, including grooming, sex acts and the production of additional child pornography. Several child pornography videos and images found in the home allegedly contained Creed-Boehm.

According to police, four children aged 14, 10, 10 and 5 were sexually abused at home.

During the search, authorities found evidence that both men had sexually abused the same young girl seen on Creed-Boehm’s cell phone.

January 2023: 3 Genesee County Men Accused of Exploiting Young Girls in Child Pornography Operation

During a separate interview, a woman told police she had seen a video of Dunn sexually abusing the girl. A witness told police Dunn had “significant amounts of child pornography.”

Genesee County Sheriff Christopher Swanson said the adults manipulated, drugged and exploited the children to make money from their sex acts, and gave the children candy laced with THC so they couldn’t defend themselves from the abuse.

“They were giving these gummies to 10-year-olds,” Swanson said at the time. “They were getting them so drugged up that they were abusing it. They couldn’t defend themselves even if they wanted to.”

May 2023: 4 Arrests in Genesee County After Young Children Given THC Gummies and Exploited for Child Pornography

Dunn was also accused of sexually abusing a young girl in January 2021. She told authorities he abused her between the ages of 9 and 12.

Charges, convictions

In 2022, Dunn was charged with three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of child sexual abuse, and one count of molesting a child for immoral purposes.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years in federal prison, followed by five years of federal parole.

The charges against Creed-Boehm and Hippensteel are still pending.

Creed-Boehm and Hippensteel are both charged with sexual exploitation of a minor. Creed-Boehm is also charged with distribution and possession of child pornography.