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Department of Justice Acting United States Attorney Candace G. Hill Contact: Dawn Masden |
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June 4, 2009
LOUISVILLE MAN SENTENCED FOR USING COMPUTER TO ATTEMPT TO ENTICE A 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL TO ENGAGE IN SEXUAL INTERCOURSE
LOUISVILLE, KY - Nathan Hughes, age 24, of Vine Grove, Kentucky, in Meade County, was sentenced on June 1, 2009, to 10 years’ imprisonment in United States District Court, Louisville, Kentucky for violating federal child sexual exploitation laws, Candace G. Hill, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky announced today. Judge Joseph H. McKinley, Jr., United States District Court, also sentenced Hughes to 5 years’ supervised release following incarceration. There is no parole in the federal judicial system.
In his plea taken in open court on March 11, 2009, Hughes admitted that between July 7, 2008, and July 24, 2008, Hughes began on-line communications with an individual representing herself to be a 14-year-old girl using the internet for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with a minor. He admitted to using the screen name "NATHANH", communicated with the 14-year-old girl on July 7, 8, 13, and 24, 2008. During the communications, Hughes described the type of car he drove, stated he was 24 years old, and discussed meeting the 14-year-old to engage in sexual intercourse and/or oral sex. In fact, a CACU Detective was working in an undercover capacity posing as the 14-year-old girl on the Internet.
On July 24, 2008, Hughes contacted the 14-year-old on "Yahoo!" He discussed meeting in person. The two discussed meeting at a local park in a Louisville suburb. Hughes specifically asked the 14-year-old girl to meet him at the park to engage in sexual intercourse and/or oral sex. He told her that he would be driving a black, four-door Grand Am with a Super-Man sticker on the back.
CACU Detectives traveled to the park on July 24, 2008. They arrived at the park and observed a black four-door Grand Am with a Super-Man sticker on the back drive into the parking lot and park. A CACU Detective immediately recognized the driver of the vehicle to be the same person he had observed in a photo on "YAHOO! INSTANT MESSENGER," while communicating with Hughes.
CACU Detectives conducted a felony arrest and identified Nathan Andrew Hughes. Detectives transported Hughes to the CACU office. Upon arriving at the CACU office, a Detective advised Hughes of his constitutional rights. Hughes signed a written waiver of his constitutional rights and agreed to answer the detective's questions. During the videotaped interview, Hughes admitted that he was the person who had engaged in online communications with the 14-year-old girl.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States 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.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Judd, and it was investigated by the Louisville Metro Police Department, Crime Against Children Unit.
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