United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

Project Safe Childhood: PHILADELPHIA MAN SENTENCED TO 70 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR TRAVELING TO CONNECTICUT TO ENGAGE IN SEX WITH A MINOR

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that THAY ENG, 29, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 70 months of imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for traveling to Connecticut to engage in sex with a 13-year-old girl.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our federal law enforcement partners are committed to investigating and prosecuting adults who prey upon children,” stated U.S. Attorney Fein.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on several occasions between January 2009 and April 2009, ENG traveled to Connecticut where he engaged in illicit sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl.

ENG and the minor victim met over the internet through an internet gaming site and had been in regular internet contact since September 2008.  ENG and his victim began telephone contact in October 2008, and ENG told the victim that he was married, but planned to get a divorce.

ENG has been detained since his arrest in New Jersey on July 8, 2009.  He pleaded guilty to the offense on March 8, 2010.

Sexual assault charges are pending against ENG in Connecticut Superior Court.

ENG must register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.  In addition, during his period of federal supervised release, ENG must receive sexual offender treatment, must have no unsupervised contact with children without the permission of the U.S. Probation Office, and must submit to monitoring of his computer activity by the U.S. Probation Office.

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and local police.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anastasia Enos King.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  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.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.                       

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov