PITTSBURGH—A former Beaver County resident has been sentenced in federal court to 70 months’ imprisonment, followed by five years’ supervised release, on his conviction of travelling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, Jr., imposed the sentence on Donald L. Starkey, age 58, of Beaver Falls, Pa.

According to information presented to the court at the time of Starkey’s guilty plea, on June 4, 2012, Starkey, then aged 54 years, transported a 15-year old female from Pennsylvania to North Carolina with whom he engaged in sexual intercourse en route and while in North Carolina. A bystander observed Starkey and the minor female playing pool at a truck stop in Guilford County, North Carolina, and reported them to local authorities.

Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Beaver County District Attorney’s Office for conducting the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Donald L. Starkey.

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.justice.gov/psc.