Press Release
U.S. CITIZEN ARRESTED IN FLORIDA FOR TRAVELING TO THE PHILIPPINES FOR SEX TOURISM
October 15, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. citizen Donald Mathias was arrested in Hollywood, Florida, yesterday on sex tourism charges for allegedly traveling to the Philippines in 2007 and 2008 to engage in sexual conduct with minors, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jeffrey H. Sloman.
Mathias, 64, whose last known residence was in Davie, Florida, was charged in a criminal complaint filed on Sept. 29, 2009, in the U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale with engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and traveling in foreign commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, Mathias arranged with the mother of two minor female children in the Philippines to travel to that country in April 2007 and December 2007 to engage in sexual conduct with the minors, and then did so. Mathias also arranged to travel to the Philippines in December 2008 to again engage in sexual conduct with the minors. Philippine authorities, however, received information about the arrangements and rescued the children before they met Mathias.
Mathias made his initial appearance today on the charges in the U.S. District Court in Miami. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry L. Garber ordered Mathias held without bond pending a detention hearing, which is scheduled for Monday, October 19.
The charges contained in the complaint carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Charges in a complaint or indictment are merely accusations and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 (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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Anitha Ibrahim of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marlene Rodriguez of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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