DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Acting United States Attorney Edward R. Ryan
Western District of North Carolina

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2009

CONTACT: Suellen Pierce
704.344.6222
Fax: 704.227.0264

MICHAEL BRUCE DARCY FOUND GUILTY BY FEDERAL JURY Watauga County Man and Former Avery County Local Police Officer Remains in Federal Custody Awaiting Sentencing ASHEVILLE, NC - Former Beech Mountain Police Officer and School Resource Officer Michael Bruce Darcy, 45, of Boone, NC in Watauga County, was found guilty on two counts which alleged that he transported a 15 year old minor to another state with the intent to have illegal sex with that minor, and that he traveled to another state in order to have sex with the minor. Darcy’s trial took place in U.S. District Court in Asheville on Monday, July 13 and Tuesday, July 14, 2009 before The Honorable Lacy H. Thornburg, U.S. District Judge. Today’s announcement is made by Acting U.S. Attorney Edward R. Ryan of the Western District of North Carolina.

Joining Ryan in today’s announcement is Owen D. Harris, Special Agent in Charge of Federal Bureau of Investigation Operations in North Carolina. Michael Bruce Darcy is presently in local federal custody where he has remained since February of this year. Darcy will remain in local federal custody until he is sentenced by Judge Thornburg. A date for the sentencing hearing has not yet been determined. Following an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Boone Police Department, and the Beech Mountain Police Department, Darcy was indicted federally in February 2009 on two criminal counts alleging that in May of 2007 he knowingly transported an individual under age 18 in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging in sexual activity, and that in May 2007 he knowingly traveled in interstate commerce, from North Carolina to another state, for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a person under 18 years of age. Darcy faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The Department of Justice is committed to the safety and well-being of every child and has placed a high priority on combating sexual exploitation of minors. For more information, please visit http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov . The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimlani M. Ford and David A. Thorneloe of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.

US v. MICHAEL BRUCE DARCY Michael Bruce Darcy, 45 years of age
DOCKET NO. 1:09cr12 Boone, NC