Marine vet meets teen on Snapchat, goes to another state for sex acts, feds say

A 27-year-old Marine Corps veteran in Nevada is going to prison after sexually abusing a 15-year-old Colorado girl he met on Snapchat, federal officials said.

Between December 2024 and January, Tyler Monson, of Winnemucca, Nevada, had conversations with a teen living in Littleton, Colorado, on the popular social media app, according to a Sept. 30 news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Nevada.

Monson told the girl he was 16 years old and lived in Colorado before the two exchanged sexually explicit photos, prosecutors said.

Monson sent the girl $2,000 via Venmo and they planned to meet up, officials said.

Monson drove from Nevada to Colorado with the intent of engaging in sex acts with the girl, officials said.

After picking her up from her home, he took her to a nearby hotel, where he gave her a promise ring that symbolized how the two would get engaged when she turned 18, documents stated.

Eventually the two engaged in sex acts before the girl went home, officials said.

The following day, he picked her up again and under the false pretense that they were driving to his Colorado home, he began driving back to Nevada, officials said.

The girl got scared when she learned where they were going and became even more alarmed when she learned of his real age, the complaint said.

On the drive toward Nevada, Monson sexually assaulted the girl multiple times, prosecutors said.

Monson eventually turned himself in on the advice of his father after investigators showed up at his sister’s house, officials said.

McClatchy News reached out to Monson’s lawyer for a statement on Oct. 7 and was awaiting a response.

He pleaded guilty to transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, officials said.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release, officials said.