CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A man has been sentenced to prison for coercing minors in North Carolina to send him child pornography while he worked as a Colorado sheriff's deputy.
On Monday, Vincent Ryan Potter, 38, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina and was sentenced to 262 months, over 21 years, in federal prison. Potter pleaded guilty to coercing and enticing a minor in Union County in March.
According to court records, Potter acted as a 15-year-old male and a 23-year-old male on Snapchat in an effort to coerce minors into sending him sexually explicit images and videos.
Potter began contacting a 14-year-old girl in Union County in early 2021 through Snapchat and pressured the teen to send him nude photos and videos of herself.
Court records state that Potter told the teen that he would expose her explicit images if she did not comply.
Potter was also in communications with another teenage girl in Union County around the same time demanding she sends him explicit photos.
While committing these acts, Potter was employed as a sheriff's deputy with the Adams County Sheriff's Office in Colorado. Potter previously was arrested for a domestic violence dispute in 2018.
Federal officials indicted and arrested Potter in August 2021. Potter faced a dozen charges relating to the incidents. He initially pleaded not guilty.
On March 4, Potter accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor for the purpose of producing child pornography.
Upon the end of his imprisonment, Potter will be on lifetime supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender.
“Potter was a sworn officer of the law which makes this case particularly disturbing," U.S. Attorney Dena J. King, the U.S. Attorney who handed down the sentence, said. “I commend the law enforcement agencies that investigated this case for working closely across state lines to locate Potter and put a stop to his predatory behavior.”
