Clairton Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking a Child

PITTSBURGH - A resident of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 12 years imprisonment, followed by 5 years supervised release, on a charge of Sex Trafficking of a Child, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Robert Allen Middlebrook, 41, of Clairton, Pennsylvania.

According to information presented to the court, the court was advised that in February 2015, Middlebrook knowingly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided and obtained female minors to engage in commercial sex acts.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jessica Lieber Smolar and Katherine A. King prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police for conducting the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Middlebrook.

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.