A registered sex offender from Baltimore was sentenced on Tuesday to over 22 years in federal prison for attempting to coerce and entice minors into sexual activities via online messaging apps, according to federal prosecutors.
Scott Lee Dye, 47, received a sentence of 270 months, or 22½ years, in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. He was also mandated to continue his registration as a sex offender.
Dye entered a guilty plea in June 2025 for the attempted coercion and enticement of a minor after he used messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Kik to interact with individuals he believed were children.
Court documents reveal that the investigation commenced in October 2022 when the parents of a minor reported sexually explicit communications involving Dye to school officials, who subsequently alerted law enforcement. Simultaneously, police in New Jersey informed Maryland authorities that Dye had been engaging online with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl, who was actually an undercover officer.
Prosecutors indicated that Dye sent explicit messages detailing sexual acts he wished to carry out with the supposed minors. Investigations into his online accounts and electronic devices revealed images and videos containing child sexual abuse material, as stated by the government.
