Home Detroit Press Releases 2009 College Professor Sentenced to 13 Years for Flying to Detroit to Have Sex With a 5-Year-Old
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College Professor Sentenced to 13 Years for Flying to Detroit to Have Sex With a 5-Year-Old

U.S. Attorney’s Office March 19, 2009
  • Eastern District of Michigan (313) 226-9100

Terrence G. Berg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, announced that Irving MITTLEMAN, 62, of New Haven, Connecticut, was sentenced today in Federal District Court following his September 2008 guilty plea to charges of Enticement to Commit Illegal Sexual Activity and Travel with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct. Mr. Berg was joined in the announcement by Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Field Division.

MITTLEMAN was sentenced by the Honorable Denise Page Hood to 13 years in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

According to court records, from October 9, 2007 until November 3, 2007, MITTLEMAN engaged in a series of online and telephone conversations with a Macomb Area Computer Enforcement Unit (MACE) undercover detective whom he believed to be a single mother of a 5-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy. During the on-line chats and in subsequent telephone conversations, he indicated a desire fly to Detroit to engage in oral sexual contact and sexual intercourse with the 5-year-old girl. As a result of the investigation, it was determined that MITTLEMAN possessed an extensive child pornography collection and had been communicating with and exchanging child pornography with numerous others via the Internet.

As a result of these conversations, MITTLEMAN traveled to the Detroit area to meet with the woman and her children on November 3, 2007. Upon his arrival, MITTLEMAN was arrested by authorities from the FBI and MACE.

United States Attorney Terrence Berg said: “This case highlights the clear connection between the desire to collect child pornography and the actual intent to sexually abuse children. In this case, the defendant developed an on-line relationship with a single mother in hopes of securing access to her children that he intended to abuse. Today’s lengthy sentence shows that my office’s Child Protection Initiative is working, that criminals who engage in similar conduct will be aggressively prosecuted, and that the United States Attorney’s Office will do everything we can to keep the Internet from functioning as a haven for child molesters.”

Special Agent Arena said, “The FBI is committed to protecting our most precious resource, our children, from sexual predators. We stand side by side with our state and local law enforcement to bring these individuals to justice. This sentence should serve as a warning that we will diligently pursue and arrest those individuals who would target and endanger our children.”

Berg praised the work of the FBI, the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office, and their joint task force, the Macomb Area Computer Enforcement Unit. Through the Project Safe Childhood Initiative, the two agencies have focused efforts on investigating and apprehending these internet offenders. The two agencies further coordinate the prosecution of the offenses in state or federal court. “Their dedication of time and skill necessary to work to reveal and apprehend these predators has been most successful” said Berg.

Assistant United States Attorney John N. O’Brien prosecuted case for the United States.

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