Canadian Man Sentenced to 144 Months in Prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Jonathan Woodworth, age 45, of Riverside-Albert, New Brunswick, Canada, was sentenced yesterday to 144 months in prison for attempting to entice and coerce a 10-year-old child into sexual activity.

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

As part of his previously entered guilty plea, Woodworth admitted that between June 23 and September 28, 2022, he exchanged sexually explicit messages with someone he believed was the mother of a 10-year-old girl, in an attempt to entice the child into engaging in sexual acts with him. On September 28, 2022, Woodworth traveled by plane and train from New Brunswick to Rensselaer County, New York, with the intent to engage in sexual acts with the minor. Woodworth was arrested after exiting the Rensselaer train station.

United States District Judge Anne M. Nardacci also imposed a 15-year term of post-imprisonment supervised release. Woodworth will be required to register as a sex offender, and faces deportation/removal from the United States, upon his release from prison.

This case was investigated by the FBI Albany’s Child Exploitation Task Force, comprised of FBI Special Agents, and state and local police investigators, including the Colonie Police Department, Rotterdam Police Department and the New York State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander Wentworth-Ping and Ashlyn Miranda prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.