Wasilla Man Convicted of Attempting to Sexually Molest 8-Year-Old

Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that a federal jury in Anchorage convicted Justin Raymond Nekeferoff, 33, of attempted enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography.  The jury found the defendant not guilty of distribution of child pornography.

Nekeferoff was found guilty after a six-day trial before U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess of the District of Alaska.  Sentencing is scheduled for May 9, 2018, at 11:00 a.m. in Anchorage, Alaska.  The maximum penalty for attempted enticement of a minor is not less than 10 years’ imprisonment and up to life.  The maximum punishment for possession of child pornography is up to 10 years’ imprisonment.  Both convictions carry maximum fines of up to $250,000, terms of supervised release of five years to life, and a $100 special assessment.

According to evidence presented at trial, in 2015 a witness told law enforcement that Nekeferoff expressed desire to have sex with children and spoke frequently about prior acts of molestation that he had committed against others, including a five- and 15-year-old girl.  The witness provided law enforcement with multiple text messages from Nekeferoff in which he stated that he liked to look at “lil girls in the stores,” and expressed his desire to perform sex acts with a “young girl” between the ages of “4-8.”  Nekeferoff was arrested when he arrived at a Wasilla motel in order to meet a mother and her eight-year-old daughter for the purpose of having sex with the child.  In truth, the “mother” was an FBI agent and the child was fictional.  Nekeferoff brought icing and other items to the motel room to use as sex objects with the child.  Located in the defendant’s wallet at the time of his arrest was an SD card that contained multiple images of child pornography.

In a statement to police at the time of his arrest, the defendant said that he went to the motel to have sex with the fictional mother and her daughter, he thought about having sex with kids “all the time,” and molested other children previously.  The defendant said that he searched for and downloaded child pornography in an effort to control his attraction to children.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Anchorage Police Department, Crimes Against Children Unit (CACU).

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices nationwide and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.