Man Arrested on Charges of Using the Internet to Entice a Minor

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney, William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Kevin Martis, 22, of Lancaster, N.Y., was charged by complaint with coercion and enticement of a minor. The charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maura O’Donnell, who is handling the case, stated that the complaint charges Martis with using the Internet to attempt to induce a minor to engage in sexual activity. Police were alerted by the parents of the victim. Martis was apprehended today through the efforts of special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and officers from the Kenmore, Depew, Lancaster, and Cheektowaga Police Departments. The defendant will appear in court on May 2, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. for a detention hearing.

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 investigation was initiated by the Kenmore Depew Police Departments and is being handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard W. Kollmar, and detectives from the Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Police Chief David Zack.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.