Pennsylvania Man Sentenced To Five Years In Prison For Traveling To Engage In Illicit Sexual Conduct With A Minor

     WASHINGTON – Matthew Nori, 34, of Shippensburg, Pa., was sentenced today to five years in prison for traveling interstate to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). 

     Nori pled guilty in October 2014 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  He was sentenced by the Honorable Rudolph Contreras. Upon completion of his prison term, Nori will be placed on 10 years of supervised release. He also will be required to register as a sex offender for a period of at least 15 years.

     According to the government's evidence, on April 29, 2014, Nori contacted an undercover officer with the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, through an online website. Over a three-day period, Nori engaged in text messaging and other conversations with the undercover officer, whom he believed was the father of an under-aged girl. During the course of these conversations, Nori arranged with the undercover officer to meet for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with the child.  On May 1, 2014, Nori traveled to a pre-arranged meeting place in Washington, D.C.  When he arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested. 

     This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI's Washington Field Office and MPD.  In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices, 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.

     In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director in Charge McCabe, and Chief Lanier commended the work of the MPD Detectives and Special Agents of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. They also expressed appreciation for the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassidy Kesler Pinegar, who prosecuted the case.