Cheektowaga Man Sentenced for Enticement of a Minor

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Salvatore Tantillo, II, 32, of Cheektowaga, New York, who was convicted of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti, who handled the case, stated that the defendant met a 16-year-old over the Internet. Tantillo misrepresented his age to the victim, advising her that he was 18 years old. After communicating with the victim over the Internet for a few months, the defendant met the girl in person for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity. It is a violation of New York State Penal Law for a person who is 21 years or older to engage in sexual intercourse with a person less than 16 years old.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The sentencing is the culmination of a joint investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; members of the Cheektowaga Police Department under the direction of Chief David Zack; and Lancaster Police Department, under the direction of Chief Gerald Gill.

Massachusetts Man Arrested on Charges of Enticing an Albany County Child

ALBANY, NY—United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Special Agent in Charge Andrew W. Vale of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division, and Colonie New York Police Chief Steven Heider announced the arrest today of a Massachusetts man charged with enticing a 10-year-old Albany County child to produce sexually explicit videos of himself and to then send those videos to him by e-mail.
A criminal complaint unsealed in United States District Court this afternoon alleges that Brian Belanger, 21, of Worcester, Massachusetts, using the nickname “zombieshadow,” met the child online through Playstation 3. While talking through the game’s headset feature, Belanger told the child that someone was trying to kill Belanger and that the child could help him by providing sexually explicit videos of himself that Belanger could in turn give to the other person. It is alleged that Belanger directed the child what to do in the videos and that over the course of approximately three months the child e-mailed Belanger numerous times, attaching video files to the e-mails that depict the child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Law enforcement was alerted on January 25, 2014, when the child’s father found the e-mails and videos on the child’s iPad. The investigation culminated with Belanger’s arrest today at his Worcester, Massachusetts residence. He made his initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Albany before United States Magistrate Judge Hon. Randolph F. Treece and was ordered detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for 2 a.m. on Monday February 10, 2014.
Belanger faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment, with a maximum penalty of 30 years, potential fines of up to $250,000, and a required term supervised release of at least five years and up to life. A conviction would also require Belanger to register as a sex offender.
Members of the community in the Worcester, Massachusetts area who have concerns or information regarding this case should call (508)-792-0214. Those in the Albany, New York area with information or concerns should call either (518) 431-0247 or 1-(888) 539-4535.
The investigation and arrest of Belanger is the result of an investigation by the Colonie New York Police Department; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division; the New York State Police; the Worcester Massachusetts Police Department; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, and led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa Fletcher, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the Northern District of New York.

Troy Man Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Entice a Minor to Engage in Sexual Acts

ALBANY, NY—Michael Heppelle, age 42, of Troy, New York, pled guilty today in Albany before Chief United States District Court Judge Gary L. Sharpe to one count of attempted online enticement of a minor, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Andrew W. Vale, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division. Heppelle faces a mandatory minimum sentence of at least 10 years of imprisonment and up to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Heppelle was detained pending his sentencing.
Pursuant to a written plea agreement, Heppelle admitted that between approximately September 24, 2012 and October 3, 2012, he called a cooperating witness and offered to pay $500 if the cooperating witness could arrange for Heppelle to have a sexual encounter with a 12-year-old girl. The cooperating witness reported his/her concerns to law enforcement, who in turn told the cooperating witness to tell Heppelle that if he was serious about engaging in sexual acts with the 12-year-old girl, he could meet her on October 3, 2012, at a particular time at a pre-arranged location in Rensselaer County. On October 3, 2012, Heppelle arrived at the pre-arranged location at the pre-determined time to meet with and engage in sexual acts with the girl. Heppelle was then arrested and was found to be in possession of $500 in U.S. currency, a cellular telephone, two condoms, and a lubricant typically used during sexual intercourse.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 21, 2014, at 9:00 a.m. in Albany, New York. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rick Belliss.

Former DOJ Attorney Sentenced to 10 Years for Attempting to Entice a Minor to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity

Karl Norman Gellert, 48, of Bellevue, Tennessee, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Nashville to attempt to entice a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, announced David Rivera, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Chief Judge William Joseph Haynes, Jr. sentenced Gellert to 10 years of incarceration, to be followed by 20 years of supervised release, during which time he will be required to register as a sex offender and participate in sex offender treatment, among other conditions.
“The U.S. Attorney’s office is committed to protecting our children who are powerless from protecting themselves from sexual predators,” said Acting U.S. Attorney David Rivera. “No one is above the law and no one gets a pass; we will pursue the evidence to wherever it leads.”
According to the plea agreement, in early April 2012, Gellert communicated online with an undercover agent whom he believed to be an 11-year-old girl who had never engaged in sexual activity with anyone. Gellert’s communication involved chess, his family, school, relationships, and sex. During multiple online conversations, he provided instructions on how to engage in sexual activities and transmitted images of himself engaging in such activity, as well as images of adult pornography and a link to a website for sexual devices. He asked if she would be interested in engaging in sexual activity with him in person and encouraged her to engage in sexual activity in preparation for his visit. After communicating online numerous times with this individual whom he believed to be an 11-year-old girl, he began also engaging in online discussions with whom he believed to be the child’s mother, but who was the same undercover agent. He also instructed the person whom he believed to be the child’s mother about what do to prepare this child for his sexual abuse of her. The communication continued through early June 2012.
Prior to engaging in this illegal activity, Gellert had been an attorney with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., through 2009.
This matter was investigated by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Middle District of Tennessee and the Eastern District of Virginia. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Carran Daughtrey and Alicia Yass.

West Valley Man Sentenced for Attempted Enticement of a Minor

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Michael Lee Reed, Jr. 22, of West Valley, New York, who was convicted of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo, who handled the case, stated that the defendant attempted to entice a minor victim to send him provocative pictures through text messages. The victim’s mother contacted law enforcement after looking through her child’s cellular telephone. As a result, no pictures were ever sent by the victim to the defendant.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
The conviction is the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Steven L. Lanser, Acting Special Agent in Charge, and the Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Police Chief David Zack.

Nashville Musician Sentenced to 210 Months in Federal Prison for Trying to Molest 7-Year-Old Girl

DALLAS—Abraham Eugene Spear, 31, of Nashville, Tennessee, was sentenced this morning by Chief U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 210 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in February 2013 to one count of attempted enticement of a minor. He has been in custody since his arrest on September 21, 2012, in Dallas, on a related federal criminal complaint. Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
According to documents filed in the case, approximately one month before he was to be in Dallas to perform at a local country music establishment, Spear sent a chat request to an undercover officer who was posing online as a “mom of curious girls.” He requested the “mom” send him photos of the girls and later asked the “mom” if she “still need[s] a teacher when I'm down there?”
Spear admitted that over the course of the next few weeks, he communicated, via the Internet and cell phone, with the undercover officer, whom he thought was a mother of two girls, ages 7 and 9. During these communications, many of which were sexual in nature, he persuaded the “mother” to allow him to meet her two girls to engage in different sexual acts with him. On September 20, 2012, Spear traveled from Tennessee to Dallas to perform with a band at a local bar, and he agreed to meet the “mom” at a restaurant in Dallas. After he was positively identified, Spear was arrested by FBI agents.
Spear also acknowledged that he had engaged in sexually explicit communications with other mothers of minor girls, including one where he offered to pay $200 to engage in sexual acts with one mother’s minor daughter.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “Resources.”