Indiana Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Traveling to Montana to Exploit a 15-Year-Old Girl
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Montana announced on November 4 that Brandon Cole Stoliby, 33, of Indiana, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. Stoliby pleaded guilty in July 2026 to traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and to transportation of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided, and U.S. Attorney Scott Twito announced the sentence.
The government alleged in court documents that Stoliby met a 15-year-old Montana girl through Snapchat in March 2025. She presented herself as 18, and the two exchanged sexually explicit messages and images, which were later found on Stoliby's phone when he was arrested in Montana.
By April 2025 the two had made plans for Stoliby to travel to Montana to pick up the girl and take her back to his home in Indiana. He arrived in Missoula County on April 6, 2025, and picked the girl up from her home. Law enforcement removed the girl from Stoliby's custody and told him she was 15 years old. Despite this knowledge, Stoliby again tried to transport the girl to Indiana and retained explicit images depicting her.
Stoliby was eventually arrested and admitted in interviews with law enforcement to exchanging explicit images with the girl and keeping explicit photos she had sent him. Homeland Security Investigations and the Missoula County Sheriff's Department conducted the investigation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Lowney prosecuted the case, and it was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部总部大楼（固定图库）。 / Photo: U.S. Department of Justice headquarters (file photo from GSM fixed library).
