New Boston Child-Exploitation Plea: The Public-Safety Ledger Starts Before Sentencing

BadPD source-check, June 19, 2026; source dates February 12, 2026, June 17, 2026, and June 18, 2026: federal prosecutors say Michael David Bulanda, 37, of New Boston, Michigan, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan says sentencing is scheduled for September 22, 2026. DOJ says Bulanda faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a possible life sentence. That is the current court-status receipt. It changes the case from charge-stage allegations to a guilty-plea record.

BadPD is keeping this brief deliberately non-graphic. The public-safety value is not in repeating explicit details. The value is in tracking the sentencing ledger, victim-protection path, reporting resources, and whether the cross-agency investigation shows a process that can move fast enough when children are threatened online.

What DOJ Says Changed

DOJ’s June 17 release says the FBI Philadelphia office found a relevant chat during another child-exploitation arrest. DOJ says the chat involved an attempt to pressure a minor into providing additional sexual images. DOJ says the FBI Detroit Field Office and the Southeast Michigan Trafficking and Exploitation Crimes Task Force investigated the case, with prosecution by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frances Lee Carlson.

ClickOnDetroit reported the case at the initial charge stage in February and again after the guilty plea. The February report is useful as a charge-stage receipt, but BadPD is not treating every early allegation as a final fact. The June DOJ plea release is the controlling current status for this short brief.

The Public-Safety Ledger

The next public records should answer practical questions. What sentencing conditions are requested? Will the final judgment include supervised release, registration, computer or internet restrictions, no-contact orders, restitution, treatment requirements, or other risk-control terms? Will the court record explain how the threat path was discovered and how quickly the relevant offices moved once it was found?

Those questions matter because online coercion cases often cross jurisdictions, platforms, devices, and encrypted or semi-private channels. Families should not need a perfect vocabulary to report a threat. They need clear routes, fast handoffs, and agencies that can preserve evidence without exposing victims.

Where Families Can Report

The FBI maintains public resources on sextortion and online coercion, including guidance to report threats and preserve evidence. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children operates the CyberTipline for suspected online child sexual exploitation. Those resources are not proof in this case; they are included because a local guilty plea should also point readers toward the practical reporting channels families may need.

BadPD is not giving legal advice. If a child is in immediate danger, use emergency services. For suspected online child sexual exploitation or coercion, use official reporting channels and preserve messages, usernames, screenshots, payment demands, and platform information where it is safe to do so.

Confirmed, Alleged, Pending

Confirmed by current DOJ receipt: Bulanda pleaded guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor; sentencing is set for September 22, 2026; and DOJ identifies the FBI Detroit office and Southeast Michigan Trafficking and Exploitation Crimes Task Force as investigation partners.

Charge-stage context: February local reporting and any details drawn from the complaint remain charge-stage context unless admitted in the plea or repeated in the current DOJ plea release.

Pending: the full plea agreement, sentencing memorandum, final sentence, supervised-release terms, victim-service orders, no-contact restrictions, and any broader public-prevention update from investigators.

The guilty plea is not the end of the ledger. BadPD will treat the September sentencing as the next source trail because the public needs to know not only that a defendant admitted guilt, but what protection and monitoring terms the court puts in place after the plea.

Source Trail

• DOJ EDMI: New Boston man pleads guilty to attempting to blackmail child (June 17, 2026) – Primary plea receipt: guilty plea, charge, sentencing date, penalty range, FBI investigation path, and prosecutor/task-force details.
• ClickOnDetroit: plea-stage local report (June 18, 2026) – Local report corroborating the plea, federal charge, sentencing date, and case context.
• ClickOnDetroit: charge-stage local report (February 12, 2026) – Local charge-stage report used only as allegation-stage context unless matched by current plea facts.
• FBI: sextortion awareness and prevention resource (Accessed June 19, 2026) – Public-safety resource on coercion, reporting, and prevention; not case-specific evidence.
• NCMEC CyberTipline (Accessed June 19, 2026) – Official public reporting channel for suspected online child sexual exploitation.