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Former High School Teacher Sentenced to Serve 87 Months in Federal Prison for Traveling with Intent to Engage in Illicit Conduct with a Minor

U.S. Attorney’s Office March 12, 2010
  • Southern District of California (619) 557-5610

United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt announced that Maurice Woods, a former teacher at Junipero Serra High School, was sentenced today in federal court in San Diego to Count 5 of an indictment charging him with traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(b). United States District Court Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz sentenced Woods to serve 87 months in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release; he also ordered Woods to register as a sex offender. Woods entered his guilty plea before Judge Moskowitz on November 30, 2009.

According to the court records, Woods admitted that in August 2003, he traveled from California to Florida with a 15-year-old minor and engaged in sexual contact. Woods further admitted that he had engaged in similar conduct outside the state of California with the same minor at least four separate times between September 2002 and July 2005. At the time of his arrest, Woods was a doctoral student at Arizona State University.

During the sentencing hearing the victim in this case and the victim’s father spoke about how Woods’ illegal behavior affected each of them and their family. Woods will be sentenced in San Diego Superior Court next week for similar conduct that occurred in San Diego County.

This case stems from a Federal Bureau of Investigation case with the assistance of the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, whose members include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the Chula Vista Police Department, the United States Attorney’s Office, the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the United States Marshals Service, the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the National City Police Department, the La Mesa Police Department, the Oceanside Police Department, the El Cajon Police Department, the San Diego State University Police Department, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice designed to combat the growing epidemic of child exploitation and abuse. 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Case Number: 09CR3480-BTM

DEFENDANT
Maurice Woods Tempe, Arizona Age: 66

SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(b)(Travel with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct)

AGENCY
Federal Bureau of Investigation

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