Press Release
New York Man Sentenced for Traveling to Louisiana to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct with Minor
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that PETER NEALON (“NEALON”), age 66, from Schenectady, New York, was sentenced today to 60 months in prison by United States District Judge Darrel James Papillion, after previously pleading guilty to interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(b). NEALON was also sentenced to 5 years of supervised release and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.
According to court documents, beginning on or about July 17, 2023, NEALON met undercover law enforcement personnel posing as a fifteen-year-old female (FM1) on Instagram. Over the next several months, NEALON engaged FM1 in overtly sexual conversations and, on multiple occasions, transmitted images and videos depicting what he claimed to be his erect penis. Beginning in about July 2023, and continuing on multiple occasions until on or about March 27, 2024, NEALON communicated his intention to visit FM1 in Louisiana for the purpose of engaging in sex with FM1, explaining in detail the sex acts he intended to perform.
In February 2024, NEALON used a messaging application to communicate with who he believed to be a fourteen-year-old female who was FM1’s friend (FM2). During
conversations with FM1 and FM2, NEALON expressed an intent and expectation to engage in various forms of sexual contact with FM1 and FM2, individually and collectively.
In March 2024, NEALON discussed the logistics of his trip with FM1 and, on about March 19, 2024, booked flight and hotel reservations from Albany, New York, to New Orleans, Louisiana. NEALON travelled by plane to New Orleans on about March 27, 2024, to his intent to engage in sexual acts with FM1 and FM2.
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.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys Briana Williams, of the Narcotics Unit, and Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit, were in charge of the prosecution.
Contact
Shane M. Jones
Public Information Officer
United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana
United States Department of Justice
Updated November 13, 2024
Topic
Project Safe Childhood