Ohio Man Who Came to PA Seeking Sex with Teen Sentenced to 4 Years in Federal Prison

PITTSBURGH, PA- A former resident of Vienna, Ohio, has been sentenced in federal court to four years’ (48 months’) imprisonment and seven years’ supervised release on his conviction of traveling with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity with a minor, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today. The defendant was additionally ordered to pay $1,543.89 in restitution and a $5,100.00 special assessment.

United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Jeffery Judd, 60.

According to information presented to the court, in late May 2017, Judd began conversing with a 14-year-old male over the "Chathour" software application and by email. He arranged to meet the child victim in the parking lot of his school on June 1, 2017, and traveled from Vienna, Ohio, to Hermitage, Pennsylvania, to engage in intercourse and oral sex acts with the victim. The victim was frightened by Judd’s arrival at the school, and failed to show at the meet location. He later reported his communications with Judd to school officials. Judd continued to communicate by email with the victim until June 5, 2017.

Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Hermitage Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the prosecution of Judd. 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 Attorneys' 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.