Former Defense Contractor Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Engaging in Commercial Sex with a Minor in the Philippines

A U.S. citizen was sentenced to 72 months in prison for paying a 14-year-old girl for sex on multiple occasions in 2007.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Lechleitner of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., Special Agent in Charge Tracy Corimer of HSI St. Paul, Minnesota and Attaché Ransom J. Avilla of HSI Manila, Philippines made the announcement.

On April 19, James Marvin Reed, 62, pleaded guilty to engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place. According to court documents, from in or about September 2007 until in or about December 2007,  Reed, then 52 years old, engaged in commercial sexual intercourse on multiple occasions with the then 14-year-old victim, and impregnated her, while he was working in the Philippines as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense. In 2016, he was arrested by Philippine authorities and returned to the United States for prosecution.

Senior U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank for the District of Minnesota sentenced Reed to serve 72 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release, and ordered Reed to pay $6,000 in restitution to the victim in the case.

The case was investigated by HSI. Trial Attorneys Ralph Paradiso and James E. Burke IV of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) are prosecuting the case. CEOS Trial Attorney Kathryn Furtado also served as a vital member of the prosecution team at earlier stages of the litigation.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota also provided substantial assistance in this prosecution.