A Connecticut woman allegedly coerced a 13-year-old Long Island boy to send her a sexually explicit video of himself and later picked up the boy and brought him to her home where she attempted to engage in sexual activity, according federal prosecutors.

Amily Colon, 31, was arrested Friday on a federal criminal complaint for alleged sexual coercion of a minor she met online, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Connecticut announced. 

Colon, who identified herself as “Alice,” was ordered detained Friday after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish in Hartford, Connecticut.

The defendant allegedly communicated with the boy through the Discord app and prosecutors said the conversations became sexually explicit. Colon allegedly sent sexually explicit images and videos of herself to the victim.

On June 26, Colon traveled to Long Island, picked up the boy and brought him to her Wethersfield, Connecticut, home. She brought him back to Long Island the next day and dropped him off a few blocks from his home, prosecutors said. Colon denied any sexual acts occurred, according to a motion for detention pending trial.

A criminal complaint outlining the allegations remained sealed as of Saturday morning, according to federal court records. Colon was represented at Friday’s court appearance by a public defender who could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday. The records did not indicate whether Colon entered a plea.

The FBI located social media posts and journal entries “that raise significant concerns regarding the danger she poses to the community and children in particular,” according to the motion.

Colon allegedly admitted owning the Discord account and communicating with the victim as well as picking him up in New York. She also allegedly admitted to prosecutors that she engaged with other minors online between 13 and 16 years old and that law enforcement would find child pornography on her cellphone, according to the motion.

Colon faces charges of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and transportation of a minor to engage in sexual activity. She faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life, according to federal prosecutors.

Suffolk County police assisted in the investigation along with the FBI’s child exploitation task force’s in New Haven and Long Island as well as the Wethersfield Police Department.

Suffolk police deferred any questions on the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and could not comment on whether the boy had been reported missing while in Connecticut.

Discord, a communications platform with video, voice and text capabilities, states it has “zero-tolerance policy for child sexual abuse material” and the company in 2023 announced it developed new software to detect illicit material.

It’s unclear whether the company alerted law enforcement in this case.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for July 31.

Cases of child exploitation can be reported to cybertipline.com. And for information on Project Safe Childhood, which aims to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, visit justice.gov/psc.

Leyland Streiff is the principal officer of the Protect Girls’ Sports in Maine ballot committee and leader of the Maine Girl Dads, a coalition of fathers whose mission is to restore single-sex competitive sports and private spaces in schools.

We — the Maine Girl Dads, a nonpartisan coalition of 8,000-plus dads united by a mission to protect the sex-based rights of our daughters — believe that Graham Platner has created a significant opportunity for the Democratic Party. Will any candidate take it?

It’s an opportunity to challenge establishment thinking, to reclaim common sense and to reassure females of all ages that their personal boundaries — and their sex-based rights — actually matter (and aren’t just a talking point on the campaign trail).

This is an opportunity to listen to the dozens of women and girls who have come forward to say the current system is broken. That any policies prioritizing gender identity over biological sex are inequitable. That they are sexist, regressive and an affront to their federal civil rights (specifically Title IX, which was a civil right hard-won by women 54 years ago). Rights that the U.S. Supreme Court just affirmed 9-0 are sex-based rights as it relates to competitive sport.

This is an opportunity to believe the young girls and women who have risked everything to courageously come forward and testify on April 14 in Augusta, detailing how current school and Maine Human Rights Act policies have resulted in exposure to voyeurism, masturbation, violence and mental trauma from males in their private spaces and on their sports podiums in our public schools. This should shock and shame us all and spur our leaders into action.

This is an opportunity to restore equality, inclusivity and progressive thinking in school and in sport, as everyone has a sex. Sex is not gender, and there is no right or wrong way to be a male or female (dress, feel, present, identify however you want). Sex is big enough for everyone. It always has been, and always will be. It’s the common, innate and immutable trait that every human shares. Recognizing biological fact doesn’t mean disrespecting personal identity.

This is an opportunity to restore and rebuild the growing fragmentation of the Democratic Party, driven by a voting base that does not carry the radical views of the elected elite. A voting base that increasingly wants progress, not regress, of sex-based rights. A voting base of girls and women that simply want single-sex private spaces and sports (both in our schools and in our jails). And a rapidly growing base of fathers that are no longer willing to watch the political establishment strip away their daughters’ civil rights and dignity for campaign funding.

This is an opportunity to end the sex-based discrimination that happens every day in Maine’s schools, and even in our jails. If a female wants a female-only space or sport (or jail cell), they are owed that legally and morally. We should listen to these girls and women. Believe them. Stop gaslighting them (as so many of our “progressive” institutions like the Maine Women’s Lobby chooses to do). We should honor them. Encourage them. Respect them. Protect them. Seek their consent. Not force them to undress or compete next to a male after they’ve told us they don’t want that.

This is an opportunity to stand up for the sex-based rights of all kids and — in doing so — stand out from the other candidates who will surely continue touting the regressive idea that females are undeserving of private spaces or competitive sports free of males.

Democrat Mainers want a hero. Platner just created an opportunity. Will anyone take it?

Which candidate will step up and meet the moment? Who will believe women and girls? Who will respect their personal boundaries and protect their sex-based rights? Who will stand against the sex-based discrimination that’s currently aimed at our state’s most vulnerable population: our schoolchildren?

We’re rooting for common sense. We’re rooting for candidates of all parties to stand up for every child’s right to single-sex sports and private spaces in our public schools.

We hope they all stand with us and stand with our girls.