Dublin Electrical Engineer Pleads Guilty to Using the Internet to Obtain Sex with a Minor

SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney Lawrence G. Brown announced that JERALD P. D’SOUZA, 50 of Dublin, Calif., pleaded guilty this morning before United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. to using means of interstate commerce to attempt to commit criminal sex acts with a minor female.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, and the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rodriguez, who is prosecuting the case, from December 28, 2008, through February 7, 2009, D’SOUZA used the Internet (YAHOO, MySpace, and chat rooms) to entice an individual he believed was a 13-year-old Truckee girl to engage in various sex acts including sexual intercourse. The individual with whom he was communicating was in fact an FBI confidential informant located in El Dorado County.

D’SOUZA then traveled from his home in Dublin to Truckee for the purpose of committing illicit sexual activity with the person whom he believed was a minor. He purchased and brought with him various gifts, condoms, and liquor. He also brought a laptop computer with a webcam, and pornography. D’SOUZA planned to take the minor to a local Truckee motel or a motel in Reno, Nevada. After his guilty plea, D’SOUZA was remanded into federal custody.

Sentencing in the case is scheduled for November 12, 2009. D’SOUZA will receive a minimum statutory sentence of 10 years to a maximum of life in prison, a life term of supervised release, life registration as a sex offender, a fine of up to $250,000, and restitution. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables and any applicable statutory sentencing factors.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.