Vermont Man Sentenced to 57 Months for Attempting to Meet a Minor for Sex

ALBANY, NEW YORK –John Curley, age 48, of Chester, Vermont, was sentenced today to 57 months in prison for attempting to meet a 12-year-old girl for sex.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

As part of his previously entered guilty plea, Curley admitted that he used an internet-based social networking service to solicit sex from someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl, but who was actually a police investigator acting in an undercover capacity.  Curley was arrested in a parking lot in Fort Ann, New York, where Curley believed he was going to meet the 12-year-old girl for sex.

United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino also imposed a 20-year term of supervised release, which will start after Curley is released from prison.  As a result of his conviction, Curley will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

This case was investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the New York State Police, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashlyn Miranda.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.