Douglas Man Arrested for Attempting to Entice a Minor

BOSTON—A Douglas man was charged in the U.S. District Court in Worcester today with attempting to entice a 13-year-old girl over the Internet.

Scot Trudeau, 39, was charged in a complaint with using a means or facility of interstate commerce to induce and/or entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity.

An affidavit unsealed today alleges that an undercover investigation was initiated after receiving complaints that Trudeau had been communicating via e-mail with a minor in New York State. Between September 2013 and January 2014, federal agents posed as a 13-year-old-girl and communicated with Trudeau via e-mail, during which time Trudeau repeatedly enticed the agent to engage in unlawful sexual conduct and discussed the possibility of traveling to New York to meet and engage in sexual acts.

If convicted, Trudeau faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of a lifetime in prison and a mandatory minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Mark J. Grady of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.

The details contained in the complaint are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ offices and 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.