Pleasanton Man Convicted Of Online Enticement And International Sexual Abuse Of A Child

OAKLAND – A federal jury convicted David John Telles, Jr. of online enticement of a minor, travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, and engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign place, announced United States Attorney Alex G. Tse and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Ryan Spradlin.  The guilty verdict was handed down October 29, 2018, following a jury trial before the Honorable Jeffrey S. White, U.S. District Judge. 

Evidence at trial showed that Telles, then 38 years old, lived in Pleasanton, California, and used the internet to entice and induce a child to engage in sexual activity.  Specifically, Telles used an online messaging application to groom the 14-year-old victim for weeks before he traveled to England with the intent to sexually abuse her in June of 2014.  After arriving in England, Telles took the victim to two different hotels where he sexually abused her over the course of two days.  Police officers from the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary in England ultimately apprehended Telles and rescued the child. 

On October 13, 2016, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging defendant with: online enticement of a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b); traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(b); and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(c).

The investigation began when HSI received a request for assistance from the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary in the United Kingdom in locating a missing 14-year-old child.  HSI arrested Telles on October 20, 2016, at San Francisco International Airport, following his deportation from the United Kingdom.

Telles is currently being held in the custody of the United States Marshal.  Judge White scheduled Telles’s sentencing hearing for February 26, 2019.  The maximum statutory penalty for the violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b) is life imprisonment and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution. There is also a mandatory minimum 10-year term of imprisonment for the offense.  The maximum statutory penalties for the violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2423(b) and (c) are 30 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution.  However, any sentence will be imposed by the Court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christina McCall and Vanessa Baehr-Jones are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Vanessa Quant, Michelle Alter Eck, Katie Turner, and Noble Hughes.  This prosecution is the result of investigations carried out by HSI and the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary.