Man Pleads Guilty to Traveling with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct

ROCHESTER, NY—Ray Keefer, 51, of Fayette, NY, plead guilty today before U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer, to a felony charge of travel in interstate and foreign commerce with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, Acting U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter of the Western District of New York announced today. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who handled the case, stated that the on or about August 17, 2008, the defendant traveled in from New York to the state of Ohio with the intent to engage in sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 17. He had met the minor while playing the Playstation 2 online game “Battlefield.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The plea was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Laurie Bennett, Special Agent in Charge, the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Jack Stenberg and the Seneca County District Attorney’s Office under the direction of Richard Swinehart.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 3, 2009, in Rochester, NY, at 10:30 a.m., in front of U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer.