Georgia Man Sentenced to 30 Years for Sex Crime

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – Robert Stanley Ziolkowski, 66, of Adel, Georgia, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge M. Casey Rogers to serve 360 months in federal prison for travel with the intent to engage in sexual activity with a child.
Ziolkowski was convicted following a two-day jury trial in January for one count of traveling to meet a minor for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity. During the trial, evidence demonstrated that Ziolkowski used the Internet website Craigslist to contact a person in Gainesville, Florida, and arranged to have sex with an eleven-year-old girl.  Ziolkowski was arrested after he traveled from Adel, Georgia, and arrived at a gas station in Gainesville to meet the child.
Due in part to his prior convictions for sex offenses, Ziolkowski faced a recommended sentence of between 292 and 360 months in prison. Ziolkowski was also sentenced to serve the remainder of his life on supervised release, which he will be required to serve upon completion of his prison sentence.
In announcing the court’s sentence, Pamela C. Marsh, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, stated, “Protecting children from the horrors of sexual exploitation is one of the highest priorities of the Department of Justice and this Office. We will continue our partnership with our state, local, and federal law enforcement agents to ensure that offenders are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
This case was the result of an undercover law enforcement operation which took place in Gainesville, Florida, in February 2012.  Ms. Marsh praised the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.   The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Williams.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorney’s 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 exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.