06/01/2009
Former Postal Carrier Sentenced for Traveling Interstate to Have Sex with Underage Girl
Portland, Ore. – A former postal carrier from Pasco, Washington, was sentenced this afternoon in federal court following his plea of guilty to one count of interstate travel for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. Bradley Jared Holzerland, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Garr M. King to 46 months in prison followed by a five-year term of supervised release. Holzerland, who has been out of custody pending sentencing, will report to a Bureau of Prisons facility to begin serving his sentence on September 1, 2009.
Holzerland came to the attention of law enforcement authorities after he began chatting online with a Washington County Sheriff’s Detective posing as a 14-year old girl. Many of the chats were overtly and graphically sexual in nature. Holzerland was arrested after traveling to Oregon from his home in Pasco to have sex with the girl. Arresting officers found a motel room key in his pocket. They found alcohol, and condoms in the motel room. Holzerland admitted traveling to Oregon to have sex with what he expected to be underage girl.
This case was investigated by the Interagency Child Exploitation Prevention Team (INTERCEPT), a partnership of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies working together to protect children from online sexual predators. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gary Sussman, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the District of Oregon.
U.S. Attorney Karin Immergut stated, “The close collaboration among local, state and federal law enforcement agencies has been crucial to our success in prosecuting those who prey upon Oregon’s most vulnerable citizens – our children. They are to be commended for their efforts.”
"The tri-county sheriffs recognize the growing problem of sexual predators roaming the Internet in search of children to victimize," said Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts. "We're excited to work with federal, state, and county law enforcement to detect these predators, arrest them, and prosecute them before they can victimize vulnerable children."
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.
