Council Bluffs Man Sentenced to Prison in Child Enticement Sting

Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Amitkumar Patel, age 42, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced on December 3, 2021 to 96 months’ imprisonment by Chief United States District Court Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. for Travel with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release, Patel will serve a 10-year term of supervised release.

On August 29, 2020, officers with the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force placed an advertisement on skipthegames.com, a website known to be used for prostitution. The advertisement was entitled “A Warm, Wet, PRINCESS Fairy Tale.” The advertisement stated that the escort provided services to men to include face sitting, intercourse-vaginal, intercourse-oral, and oral-receiving.

On September 4, 2020, Patel responded to the advertisement by cellular phone. Patel was informed that the purported provider was 15 years of age. Patel and the purported 15-year-old agreed on a price of $100 for a half hour and Patel, in referencing the advertisement, indicated that he was interested in having vaginal and oral sex with the purported 15-year-old. Patel also agreed to bring a Jimmy John’s sandwich for the purported 15-year-old’s younger sister. Patel then traveled from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Omaha, Nebraska and arrived at the agreed upon meeting spot.

Patel was met by officers in the area of 162^nd and Bedford Streets in Omaha. In Patel’s possession was his iPhone, a Jimmy John’s sandwich order, 2 condoms, and $100 cash.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.