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Press Release

Pennsylvania man sentenced in federal court for having sex with a 14-year-old girl

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Indiana

Drove from Pennsylvania to Zionsville to have sex with a minor

PRESS RELEASE

INDIANAPOLIS –United States Attorney Josh Minkler announced today the sentencing of a Pennsylvania man for having sex with a 14-year-old girl in Zionsville. Sean A. Donnelly 22, Ephrata, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 235 months imprisonment (19.5 years) by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt after pleading guilty to enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and possession of child pornography.

“Mr. Donnelly will spend the next 19 years of his life inside the walls of a federal prison as a sex offender,” said Minkler. “One of the top priorities of this office is to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

According to court documents, Donnelly and a 14-year-old girl from Zionsville, Indiana, met in a chat room on the Internet in February 2015. They conversed regularly by text messages and telephone calls. The conversations became more intimate and Donnelly asked the victim to send naked pictures of herself of which she complied. He would send favorable responses to the victim and asked for more.

On July 2, 2015, Donnelly drove from Pennsylvania to Zionsville and had sexual relations with the victim. He returned on July 9, 2015, for the purpose of having a sexual relationship and was discovered with the victim in a local park by the Zionsville Police Department and taken into custody.

The Zionsville Police Department and the FBI investigated this case.

“The Zionsville Police Department wishes to thank our federal partners at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney’s Office for their assistance in bringing this individual to justice,” said Zionsville Police Chief Robert Knox. “This was a solid group effort in combating the scourge of those preying on the young people of our communities.”

According to Trial Counsel Kaylynn Shoop of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), and Senior Litigation Counsel Steven D. DeBrota of the Southern District of Indiana, who prosecuted this case for the government, Donnelly must serve 20 years of supervised release after his term of imprisonment and pay a $5,000 fine.

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Updated June 15, 2017