Wisconsin Man Pleads Guilty to Traveling to Minnesota Intending to Have Sex with Minors

A 28-year-old man pleaded guilty today in federal court in St. Paul to the charge of traveling in interstate commerce with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Appearing before United States District Court Judge Donovan Frank, Gabriel Vitali Matthias, of Madison, Wisconsin, pled guilty to one count of the charge after admitting that on February 16, 2009, he traveled from California to Minnesota for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with two female minors.

Matthias was indicted for this crime on January 12, 2010. He also admitted that on April 18, 2009, he traveled from Madison to Roseville, Michigan for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with another girl under the age of 18.

According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit filed in the case, authorities first learned of Matthias’s illegal activity after one of the minors involved in the February 16, 2009, incident reported that Matthias had traveled from the west coast to see her. The two girls met Matthias through the Internet in 2008, and they eventually began communicating with him by telephone and text messaging. Many of those communications were of a sexual nature.

In January or February 2009, Matthias told the girls he was moving from California to Wisconsin and asked to meet them in Minnesota. On February 16, Matthias picked up one of the girls, who was 13 years old at the time, and provided her with alcohol before taking her to a Bemidji motel room, where he engaged in sexual acts with her.

Later that night, Matthias and the 13-year-old left the motel to pick up the second girl, who was 14 years old at the time. After doing so, Matthias gave both girls alcohol and drove them back to the motel. They attempted to enter the building through a rear entrance but were scared off by a security guard. Ultimately, Matthias took the 13-year-old girl home. Then, while driving the 14-year-old home, he engaged in sexual conduct with her. In addition, Matthias traveled to Roseville, Michigan on April 18, 2009 for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a different female under the age of 18.

Matthias was arrested on May 1, 2009, in Madison, Wisconsin and extradited to Minnesota.

For his crime, he faces a potential maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. Judge Frank will determine his sentence at a future date, yet to be scheduled.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Madison, Wisconsin, police, and the U.S. Attorney offices from the Western District of Wisconsin and the Eastern District of Michigan. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Otteson.