Wednesday, May 09, 2012

Man Pleads Guilty to Traveling from France to the United States to Have Sex with Underage Child


WASHINGTON—Jean Frederic Godoc, 29, of Paris, France, has pled guilty to one count of traveling to the United States to have sex with an under-aged child and one count of transportation of child pornography.

The guilty plea was announced today by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr.; James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department; and Earl L. Cook, Chief of the Alexandria, Virginia Police Department.

Godoc pled guilty on May 7, 2012 before the Honorable Beryl A. Howell in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Sentencing is scheduled for July 20, 2012. Godoc faces a statutory maximum of 30 years in prison for the crimes.

According to a factual proffer of evidence presented during the court proceeding, between September 1, 2011 and December 22, 2011, a member of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, who was operating undercover, entered a website that is frequented by those who have a sexual interest in children. Godoc and the undercover officer communicated online over the three-month period, and the defendant indicated an interest in traveling to the United States and having a sexual relationship with an underage girl. In arranging the visit, Godoc offered to bring presents for the girl and her younger sister. On December 22, 2011, Godoc boarded a plane in Paris and traveled to the United States. Once he arrived, bearing his computer and the promised gifts, he was arrested. A search of Godoc’s computer revealed that the defendant had transported several hundred images of child pornography to the United States.

This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD, with assistance from other law enforcement agencies.

Project Safe Childhood is 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 U.S. 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, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov

In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director McJunkin, Chief Lanier, and Chief Cook praised the Alexandria, Virginia Police Department detective; MPD detectives; and special agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They also commended the work of those who handled the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Criminal Investigator John Marsh, Legal Assistant Charmonique Price, and the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section. Finally, they praised the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Julieanne Himelstein, who is prosecuting the case.

No comments: