Maryland Man Sentenced To 28 Months in Prison for Traveling To Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct With a Minor

          WASHINGTON – Ravi Singit, 41, of Rockville, Md., has been sentenced to 28 months in prison after earlier pleading guilty to a charge of traveling interstate to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Singit pled guilty in November 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced on Feb. 11, 2016, by the Honorable Senior Judge John D. Bates. Following his prison term, he will be placed on five years of supervised release. He also will be required to register as a sex offender for a minimum of 15 years upon his release from prison.

            According to the government's evidence, on Aug. 26, 2015, Singit contacted an undercover officer with the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, who had posted an ad on a social network site.  Over the next several days, Singit engaged in e-mail, phone, and text message conversations with the undercover officer, whom the defendant believed had access to a purported under-age girl. During this period of time, Singit arranged with the undercover officer to meet for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with the child.

            On Aug. 31, 2015, Singit traveled from Maryland to a pre-arranged meeting place in Washington, D.C.  When he arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested.

            This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI's Washington Field Office and MPD.  In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips, Assistant Director in Charge Abbate, and Chief Lanier praised the work of the MPD Detectives and Special Agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They also commended the efforts Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassidy Kesler Pinegar, who prosecuted the case.