Woman Indicted on Charges of Enticing a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity and Production of Child Pornography

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury in Buffalo has returned a three-count indictment charging Angie L. Jenkins, 35, of Lowell, Michigan, with enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity, production of child pornography, and receipt of child pornography. The charges carry a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who is handling the case, stated that beginning in October 2009, Jenkins developed an online relationship with a 15-year-old minor victim through the online video game World of Warcraft. The relationship then progressed into online chats, e-mails, and telephone calls. In the spring of 2010, the conversations turned sexual in nature and in late May 2010, the defendant told the victim that she wanted to travel to Buffalo so that they could engage in sexual activity. On June 11, 2010, Jenkins traveled from Michigan to Buffalo, met up with the victim, then 16 years old, and had sex in a parked car in a park in Amherst, NY. The relationship was discovered after the minor’s parents, upon reviewing his cell phone, noticed multiple calls from an out of state number. After learning that Jenkins traveled to Buffalo, the parents contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation. On August 31, 2010, the defendant was arrested at her home in Michigan and a computer was seized from her residence. A forensic examination revealed graphic images sent from the victim to the defendant at the defendant's request.

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.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The Indictment is the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of James H. Robertson, Special Agent in Charge.

Arraignment on the indictment is scheduled for January 25, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. before Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.