DENVER (KDVR) — A Connecticut man who threatened a friend of two missing Colorado juveniles in 2020 pleaded guilty on Friday to possession of child pornography.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, investigators began looking into the case after 54-year-old Gregory Butts called the phone number provided on social media posts seeking information about two missing juveniles from Colorado. Investigators said that Butts, who had his phone number blocked to recipients, spoke to a female friend of the missing minors.
The female friend recorded the call, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The office said Butts told the friend on the call he was with the missing minors, and said he had already had sexual contact with them. He threatened harm to the juveniles if the phone call was recorded or law enforcement was contacted. He also threatened the female friend, investigators said, telling her that he would “return” the juveniles if the female friend would have sexual intercourse with him.
The missing juveniles returned home shortly after they were reported missing. They were unharmed and had not been kidnapped.
However, investigators tracked the call to a “lightly-populated” area of Connecticut, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office release. Butts is a registered sex offender, having been convicted in April 2016 of illegal sexual contact with a child. He was released on probation in December 2018, according to police records.
At the time, Butts was on probation and a Connecticut probation officer recognized his voice on the phone call recording.
Probation officers searched Butts’ home and a second residence he was known to stay at, and seized a computer, storage devices, multiple cell phones “and other items,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Forensic analysis of the devices showed they contained over 10,000 images and videos of child pornography. The devices also included downloaded conversations Butts had with minors on social media sites, including Snapchat. Prosecutors said Butts had sexually explicit conversations and made numerous threats in the chats, as well as demanded, and sometimes received, sexually explicit photos.
Butts was arrested on March 4, 2022. On Jan. 17, Butts pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. Because of his previous criminal history, the charge carries the mandatory minimum weight of a 10-year prison sentence and a maximum term of 20 years in prison.