Philadelphia Man Sentenced To 140 Months’ Imprisonment For Attempted Online Enticement Of A Minor

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Shane Kelly Torpey, age 37, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on June 23, 2021, to 140 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a 10-year term of supervised release, by United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion for using the internet to attempt to entice a 12-year-old minor female to engage in prohibited sexual activity.

According to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, on January 27, 2020, after communicating online with the minor victim and, later, with a law enforcement officer posing as the victim, Torpey traveled from the Philadelphia area to a park in Kingston, PA in an attempt to coax the minor victim into engaging in prohibited sexual activity with him.  Torpey was arrested on scene. 

At sentencing, Judge Mannion also ordered Torpey to comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Philadelphia Division and the Kingston Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Jeffery St John prosecuted the case.

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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit  www.usdoj.gov/psc for more information about internet safety education, please visit  www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

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