New Jersey man pleads guilty to hiring assassin to kill 14-year-old boy

A New Jersey man pleaded guilty this week to attempting to hire a hitman to assassinate a 14-year-old boy after exchanging sexual messages with him online. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey said in a press release that 31-year-old John Michael Musbach admitted to " paying $20,000 in bitcoin to have a 14-year old child murdered."

Musbach reportedly "decided to have the victim killed so that the victim could not testify against him" in an upcoming trial in which Musbach stood accused of exchanging sexually explicit photos with the 14-year-old. 

The perpetrator sought to obtain the murder-for-hire services from a website on the dark web, the attorney's office said. 

At sentencing in June, Musbach faces "a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison" plus fines.