Indian National Sentenced to 10 Years for Attempted Enticement of a Minor

 Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Pradish Jehan Selvaraj, 35, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha for Attempted Enticement of a Minor.  Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Selvaraj to 120 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.  After his release from prison, he will begin a 5-year term of supervised release. Selvaraj will also be required to register as a sex offender and is subject to deportation to India by U.S. immigration authorities when he completes his sentence of imprisonment.

Between October 26, 2020 and November 4, 2020, Selvaraj responded to an online prostitution advertisement by texting the phone number listed in the ad. An undercover law enforcement officer purporting to be a 15-year-old female responded to Selvaraj’s texts. During the conversations, Selvaraj agreed to pay $80 to engage in oral sex with the 15-year-old and a 12-year-old female. He arranged to meet both minor females in Omaha, offering to pay the females in exchange for oral sex and agreeing to bring them McDonald’s breakfast. When Selvaraj arrived at the meet up location, he was in possession of condoms and a McDonald’s breakfast order.  Selvaraj was detained by law enforcement. Selvaraj admitted to answering the prostitution ad and texting with a person he believed to be a 15-year-old female.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 United States Attorney’s 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 via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Omaha FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.