Former Vancouver, Washington Resident Pleads Guilty in Federal Court to Interstate Travel to Have Sex with Minors

PORTLAND, OR—A former construction worker from Vancouver, Washington, Nathaniel Edward Juhl, 27, appeared in U.S. District Court today and entered a guilty plea to interstate travel with the intent to have sex with a minor. U.S. District Judge Garr M. King accepted the guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for August 9, 2010. Conviction of the crime carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and five years of supervised release upon completion of the prison term.

Juhl came to the attention of undercover FBI agents, posing as 13- and 14-year-old girls, when he met them in an online chat room in May 2006. Soon thereafter, Juhl began a series of sexually explicit conversations which culminated in his invitation to meet the girls at the Sunset Transit Station in Beaverton, Oregon. On October 22, 2006, Juhl drove from his home in Vancouver with the stated intent of transporting the girls to his residence for sexual activity. Instead, agents arrested him when he arrived at the transit station. A later search of his personal computer revealed a collection of child pornography.

Juhl will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending the imposition of sentence. While on court-ordered pretrial release in 2008, Juhl failed to appear for trial and became a fugitive. In April 2009, police arrested him in Kingman, Arizona, where he was working for a traveling carnival. He has been in federal custody since the 2009 arrest.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood employs 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.

In addition to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, this case was investigated by the Beaverton Police Department, working as part of the Innocent Images Initiative to investigate and combat child exploitation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen F. Peifer.