Washington, D.C. – Wei Chin, 37, a Chinese national living in Eldersburg, Maryland, has been sentenced to serve a 32-month period of incarceration and is subject to deportation to China upon his release, in connection with his earlier guilty plea to one count of Traveling Interstate to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct with a Minor, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor announced today.

Chin received his sentence yesterday before the Honorable Judge Henry H. Kennedy, Jr., in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Chin pleaded guilty to the charge on May7, 2008.

According to the government’s evidence, which was accepted by Chin as part of his guilty plea, Metropolitan Police Department Detective Timothy Palchak posed undercover, at various times in 2007 and 2008, as a 14-year-old girl while using Yahoo’s Instant Messenger service. In this undercover capacity, Detective Palchak began chatting with the defendant and had multiple Instant Messenger conversations with him between June 2007 and February 2008.

On February 14, 2008, the defendant, using the screen name “Wei Chi,” agreed to engage in sexual intercourse with the fictitious 14-year-old girl. The defendant stated, “we will go to a small hotel if u are ok with it.” When Detective Palchak asked the defendant if he would use condoms because she did not want “to get into any trouble,” the defendant responded, “sure! I got everything.” On February 15, 2008, the defendant made arrangements to meet the fictitious 14-year-old girl that day at a location in Washington, D.C., at 4:30 p.m.

The defendant subsequently drove from Maryland to this pre-arranged location. When he arrived, the defendant was stopped and placed under arrest. During a subsequent search of the car which he was driving, law enforcement officials recovered, among other things, a bag containing several condoms, two pairs of handcuffs, and two dildos.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood and the Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. 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 Taylor praised the quick action and investigative work, during this Project Safe Childhood initiative, of a joint task force consisting of Metropolitan Police Department Detectives Timothy Palchak, Jonathan Andrews, Morani Hines, Miguel Miranda, and Lieutenant Patricia Williams, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agents David Solis and Scott Schelbe. Finally, Mr. Taylor commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys Opher Shweiki and Julieanne Himelstein, who prosecuted this case.