Army Captain Sentenced to Almost 20 Years in Federal Prison after Pleading Guilty to Enticement of Minors to Engage in Unlawful Sexual Activity

Used Accounts Created in Fake Names to Engage In Sexually Explicit Communications With Hundreds of Users—Many Identified as Minors Between 12 and 17 Years Old

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow today sentenced Kevin J. Gorbsky, age 32, of Bowie, Maryland, to 239 months in federal prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, after Gorbsy pleaded guilty to five counts of enticement of a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity.  Judge Chasanow also ordered that, upon his release from prison, Gorbsky must register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The guilty plea and sentence were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Acting Special Agent in Charge Jennifer L. Moore of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Commanding General David P. Glaser of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command.

“Kevin Gorbsky took advantage of the anonymity of the Internet to sexually exploit young girls, many of whom were especially vulnerable,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur.  “We will do all we can to find and prosecute these predators to prevent more children from being abused.”

According to his plea agreement, Gorbsky was a Captain in the United States Army, stationed in Kuwait in September 2015, and in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, beginning in July 2016, where he was assigned to work at a secure facility.  Gorbsky created and used e-mail accounts “Justin Smelder” and “John Bbeez,” and a social media account, “johnbeez66.”  Beginning in October 2015 and continuing through at least January 8, 2018, Gorbsky used those accounts to engage in online chat with hundreds of other users, many of whom identified themselves as minors between 12 and 17 years old.  Gorbsky told many of the individuals he chatted with that he was 19 years old, when in fact, he was between 28 and 31 years old.  Gorbsky’s chats with the users were sexually explicit.  Gorbsky repeatedly persuaded, enticed, and coerced the other users to send him sexually explicit images and to engage in sexually explicit video chat with him.  Gorbsky sent many of the users sexually explicit images and videos of himself.  On numerous occasions, Gorbsky accessed his accounts and engaged in sexually explicit chats using the unclassified computer system at his workplace.

Specifically, Gorbsky admitted that from September 22, 2017 through January 3, 2018, Gorbsky engaged in sexually explicit communications with a girl who said she was 12 years old, including during times the girl stated she was in school.  Gorbsky repeatedly asked the girl for sexually explicit images.  At Gorbsy’s request, he and the girl also engaged in video chat calls during which they engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  On October 26, 2017, Gorbsky e-mailed a sexually explicit video of himself to the girl.

Further, as detailed in his plea agreement, between October 5, 2017 and January 3, 2018, Gorbsky also engaged in sexually explicit chat with four other girls who stated in their chats that they were ages 13, 17, 17, and 15, respectively.  Gorbsky repeatedly asked the girls to send him sexually explicit images of themselves and to engage in sexually explicit video chat with him.  All of the girls sent Gorbsky sexually explicit pictures of themselves and the 15-year-old victim also engaged in a video chat during which she and Gorbsky engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  During Gorbsky’s conversations with the 13-year-old girl, the girl commented to Gorbsky on numerous occasions that she was suicidal.  Gorbsky admitted that he ignored her statements about self-harm and instead redirected the conversation back to sexually explicit matters.  Gorbsky also e-mailed sexually explicit videos of himself to one of the girls who was a 17-year-old special needs student.

According to his plea agreement, Gorbsky induced at least eight other users who identified themselves as minor females to send him sexually explicit images and/or to engage in sexually explicit video chat with him.  Five of those users have been identified as then-minor girls living in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Arkansas, and California.  These victims were between 14 and 17 years old at the time of the offenses.

One 15-year-old female’s father discovered her communications with Gorbsky.  He sent Gorbsky a message stating, “This [victim's] dad. You are talking and trading sexual pics with a minor. She is 15. Your profile and email are being sent to police and other authorities to take action.”  Despite this, Gorbsky admitted that he continued to communicate with the minor female, including asking her to send him sexually explicit images and to engage in sexually explicit video chat with him.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of the page.      

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the FBI and Army CID for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary A. Myers and Derek E. Hines, who prosecuted the federal case.