Washington, D.C. Man Pleads Guilty To Traveling To Maryland To Engage In Sexual Activity With A Minor

Greenbelt, Maryland – Gregory King, age 28, of Washington, D.C. pleaded guilty today to traveling across state lines to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a 14 year old female and to using a computer to persuade, induce, entice and coerce the minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Chief Richard McLaughlin of the Laurel Police Department.

According to King’s plea agreement, on October 9, 2013, he initiated a chat with the victim, a 13 year old girl, on a social networking site. The girl advertised her age on her profile page as 13. During October and November 2013, King and the victim exchanged sexually explicit photographs and engaged in sexually explicit conversations. On October 30, 2013, King chatted with the victim about coming to her house in Maryland from Washington, D.C., telling the victim that he would take a bus to her house. The victim provided King with her address, but King was not able to get to the victim’s house that night. King continued to chat with the victim and on November 21, 2013, shortly after the victim’s 14th birthday, again discussed coming to the victim’s home. King took a bus from Washington, D.C. and met the victim at her home, where he spent the night. King was arrested on January 19, 2014.

As part of his plea agreement, King must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

King faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for the traveling charge; a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison, for using a computer to coerce a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct; each followed by a minimum of five years and up to lifetime of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte has scheduled sentencing for October 15, 2014 at 9:30 a.m.

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. 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 Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI and Laurel Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney LisaMarie Freitas of the U.S. Justice Department, Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristi N. O’Malley, who are prosecuting the case.