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.
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