German Man Sentenced To 189 Months In Prison For Child Sex Tourism Offense

TUCSON, Ariz. – Today, Karsten Puschmann, 51, of Kiel, Germany, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps to serve 189 months in prison. Puschmann pleaded guilty on Jan. 22, 2014, of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conductPuschmann’s term of imprisonment will be followed by lifetime supervised release, with stringent sex offender conditions, including the condition that he register as a sex offender.

            An investigation revealed that Puschmann, through the use of the internet, negotiated and planned a trip to Mexico in order to engage in commercial sex acts with six different children between the ages of five and eleven years old. He traveled from Europe to Tucson, Ariz., for this purpose and was arrested upon his arrival in Tucson.

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.  Under this program, federal, state, and local law enforcement resources are combined 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 investigation in this case was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, Nogales.  The prosecution was handled by Carmen F. Corbin and Carin C. Duryee, District of Arizona, Tucson.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-13-01312-TUC-JGZ
RELEASE NUMBER:   2014-057_ Puschmann

For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
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