FBI Buffalo Announces the Arrest of Illinois Man for Sexual Exploitation of Georgia Youth

Today, James H. Robertson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Buffalo Field Office, and John Chella, Chief of the City of Niagara Falls Police Department (NFPD), announce the arrest of David Kyle Murch, age 19, of Schaumburg, Illinois, for the sexual exploitation of a Georgia youth. Murch was arrested on Sunday, July 11, 2010, in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, by the FBI in Chicago and officers of the Schaumburg, Illinois Police Department. Murch was charged in a criminal complaint filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York with one count of traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual contact with a minor, which is a felony offense.

According to the complaint, a 15-year-old female from Georgia was reported missing by her family on Saturday, July 10, 2010, while she was visiting her grandparents in Niagara Falls, New York. The NFPD and the Buffalo FBI began investigating her disappearance and determined that the missing youth had been engaged in an online relationship with an adult male from the Chicago area.

Additional investigation identified the adult male with whom the missing youth was having the online relationship with as Murch. Bank records showed unauthorized transactions on the grandfather’s debit card on Saturday morning at various locations in Western New York and Ohio, while cellular phone records showed the victim’s phone was being used in Schaumburg on Sunday morning, both of which helped lead to the identification of Murch and the filing of charges announced today. The victim was recovered unharmed inside Murch’s apartment Sunday morning and has been reunited with her parents.

Murch appeared in federal court in Illinois earlier today at which time he was formally charged. He was ordered held without bond and was also ordered removed to Buffalo to face the charge pending against him. Until then, Murch will be held in Chicago. If convicted of the charge filed against him, Murch faces a possible sentence of up to thirty (30) years' incarceration.

This matter will be prosecuted under the direction of William J. Hochul, Jr., United States Attorney for the Western District of New York.

It should be noted that the fact that an individual has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation; the individual is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.