LAS VEGAS — A Waterville man was sentenced on Monday to 15 years in prison for the sexual exploitation of children.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Cristina D. Silva sentenced Todd Maxson, 55, to a lifetime of supervised release. He was convicted on charges stemming from the exploitation of children he met on social media messaging applications and then coerced to make and send him child sexual abuse material.

According to court documents, on Sept. 25, 2023, Maxson began a conversation with a 14-year-old girl in Nevada via Telegram, an internet-based social media application that allows users to privately message each other. Nearly every day for a month, Maxson ordered, received, and paid for sexually explicit images and videos of the victim via Cash App.

Maxson also sought out females expressing suicidal or depressive tendencies and encouraged the behavior by requesting sexual content depicting self-harm, cutting, and bleeding. He would send knives to the children to help them make the videos, according to court documents.

In October, Maxson pleaded guilty to one count each of sexual exploitation of children, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. In addition to imprisonment, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Maxson must register as a sex offender and keep the registration current.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Justice Department in May, 2006, to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood uses the criminal justice resources of federal, state, and local entities to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

More information about Project Safe Childhood is available at justice.gov/psc.

Anyone with information on suspected child sexual exploitation can contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or online at report.cybertip.org.

First Published March 11, 2025, 2:45 p.m.