Pennsylvania Man Sentenced for Attempted Travel to Philippines to Have Sex With Minors

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that defendant Jack Russell Bristol, 62, of Troy, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to thirty years’ incarceration and ten years’ supervised release by United States District Court Judge Gerald J. Pappert for child exploitation offenses.

The defendant was arrested by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations as part of an online investigation involving the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children via live-streaming webcams. For more than a year, the defendant paid for live-streamed sex shows that featured children in the Philippines. The defendant sought out young girls, some as young as 8 years of age, and paid their adult handlers to have the girls strip on camera, masturbate, and engage in sex acts with other children and with adults. The investigation confirmed that Bristol spent approximately $600 every month for these live-streamed shows, and over the last few months before his arrest, had repeated contact with two sisters who were just 12 and 14 years old.

As part of his abuse of these girls, the defendant made arrangements to travel to the Philippines, where he had paid to stay with a host family that had five girls, all under the age of 18. Bristol’s plan was to have sex with the two sisters he had been communicating with online, but he was intercepted by federal agents in Philadelphia as he attempted to board a plane to the Philippines.

Bristol confessed to agents on the day of his arrest, and later pleaded guilty to all three charges in the Indictment, for which he was sentenced today: two counts of using the Internet to entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct, and one count of attempted foreign travel to engage in illicit sexual activity with a minor.

“Child predators often go to extreme lengths to get what they want, and this case is a prime example of that – this defendant was ready to travel literally to the other side of the globe,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “We stand ready with our federal and local partners to identify and prosecute those who would prey upon minor children.”

“Protecting children from predators is a top priority for Homeland Security Investigations,” said Marlon V. Miller, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Philadelphia. “Today’s sentencing demonstrates that we will not tolerate the sexual abuse of children anywhere in the world. HSI will vigorously investigate anyone who attempts to travel overseas to exploit and take advantage of children.”

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce the sexual exploitation and abuse of children. The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rotella.