Sailor Sentenced for Traveling to have Sex with a Minor

NORFOLK, Va. – A U.S. Navy sailor was sentenced today to seven years in prison for traveling from Newport News to Louisiana to have sex with a minor, and for receiving child pornography.

According to court documents, Saleem Omarie Forbes, 23, of Newport News, engaged in a two-year long online relationship with a minor female. The two communicated via a text messaging application until finally agreeing to meet in person in March 2017 when Forbes took leave from his Navy command and traveled to Louisiana to meet the minor. Forbes picked up the minor near her middle school and drove to a local motel where he provided her alcohol and engaged in sexual acts with her. Forbes knew through his conversations with the minor that she was 13 at the time of their encounter. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) investigated Forbes and discovered that he also received child pornography on both his cell phone and laptop computer prior to his travel to Louisiana.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the 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.justice.gov/psc.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Cliff Everton, Special Agent in Charge, NCIS Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Henry C. Morgan, Jr. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David Layne and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa R. McKeel prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:17-cr-117.