District Man Pleads Guilty to Sexually Abusing, Threatening 12-Year-Old Girl

            WASHINGTON – Tauheed Wheeler, 36, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to charges of misdemeanor child sexual abuse and felony threats stemming from an incident in which he tried to entice a young girl into the back seat of his car, and then threatened to beat her if she told anyone what happened, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu. 

            Wheeler pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.  The Honorable Ronna L. Beck scheduled sentencing for June 8, 2018. Wheeler faces a statutory maximum prison term of 20 ½ years.  Once released from prison, he will be required to register as a sex offender for a 10-year period and will be on supervised released for up to 10 years.

            According to the government’s evidence, on Dec. 10, 2016, the victim was 12 years old. Wheeler was a friend of the girl’s mother at the time, and he offered to drive the victim to a relative’s home.  The relative was not home, and Wheeler drove the girl into an alley in Southeast Washington, where he parked near some trees.  Wheeler got into the back seat of the car and, while touching his genitalia, asked the girl to get into the back seat with him so that he could engage in sexual contact with her.  The girl refused.  Wheeler kept encouraging the girl to get into the back seat with him, but she continued resisting.  Eventually, Wheeler gave up but told that victim that if she told anyone about what he had tried to do, he would beat her.  Afraid, the victim did not initially tell her mother.  However, in June of 2017, she finally told her mother about what Wheeler had done.  Her mother immediately called the police. Wheeler was arrested and indicted in January 2018 and has been in custody ever since.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Liu commended members of the Youth and Family Services Division of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).  She also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Brenda C. Williams and Victim/Witness Advocate Tracey Hawkins.  Finally, she commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter V. Taylor, who investigated and prosecuted this case.