Conesus Man Found Guilty of Online Enticement of a Minor and Child Pornography Counts

ROCHESTER, NY—United States Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that a federal jury convicted DALTON E. WILKE, 45, of Conesus, NY, of online enticement of a minor, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography following a two-week trial. The online enticement charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison with a mandatory minimum period of 10 years in prison; receipt of child pornography carries a maximum penalty of 20 years with a mandatory minimum period of five years in prison; possession of child pornography carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Each count is also punishable by a fine of up to $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Craig R. Gestring and Marisa J. Miller who tried the case, stated that the defendant engaged in a series of sexually explicit online chats with a person he believed to be a 15-year-old boy. Over a period of five months, the defendant repeatedly attempted to induce, persuade, and entice the child to meet for the purpose of having sex. A meeting was finally agreed to in August of 2008 at a park in Batavia, New York. In actuality, the child was an undercover Batavia Police Detective conducting an online child exploitation investigation. The defendant arrived at the planned meeting location in Batavia only to be arrested by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and officers of the Batavia Police Department. Following his arrest, FBI agents seized the defendant’s computers from his home in Consesus. A forensic analysis of these computers, performed at the Regional Computer Forensic Lab, linked them to the online enticement, and also recovered a 48-minute-long video depicting two young boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In addition to finding the defendant guilty on all counts, the Jury also determined that the 2004 GMC Sierra Pickup truck which the defendant drove to the meeting location was subject to forfeiture.

United States Attorney Hochul stated, “This case serves as yet another reminder for parents to monitor their children’s use of the Internet. It also demonstrates to all that predators continue to use the Internet for their evil purposes.”

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 May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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.

The verdict was the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James H. Robertson and members of the Batavia, New York Police Department under the direction of Chief Randy Baker.

The defendant was taken into custody following the verdict, and sentencing is scheduled for August 6, 2010, in Rochester, NY, in front of U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa.