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Royal Oak man sentenced to 11 years for abusing teen girls

(CBS DETROIT) - A Royal Oak man has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for coercing and enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and for receiving child pornography, announced United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

Nikolas Boris Mariani, 21, repeatedly abused underage girls, and during his guilty plea, he admitted to coercing a 14-year-old girl that he met on Snapchat to engage in sexual activity. In addition to this, he received sexually explicit photos from this minor. This happened in the fall of 2020, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

In a separate incident, police found a different 14-year-old runaway hiding nearly naked under Mariani's bed.

The teen said she met Mariani on Snapchat and they engaged in sex acts.

In addition to these two incidents, DNA evidence linked him to a third incident in which he picked up a 14-year-old girl from her home in Flint, engaged in unlawful sex acts with her, and then left her in a Detroit parking lot. 

"The sentence handed down in this case reflects the serious nature of the crimes committed by this defendant, which are particularly troubling given his repeated efforts to harm and exploit minors," said James A. Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Detroit Field Office. "The FBI is committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our society - our children - and to bringing predators like Mariani to justice."

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