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Press Release

U.k. Resident Sentenced To 16 Years In Prison For Travelling To Ohio To Have Sex With A Juvenile

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Ohio
CONTACT: Fred Alverson
Public Affairs Officer

DAYTON, OHIO – Richard Castle, 47, a resident of the United Kingdom, has been sentenced to serve 192 months in prison in connection with a trip he made to Ohio from his home in the United Kingdom in order to have sexual relations with a juvenile in June 2011.

Mythili Raman, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Special Agent in Charge Marlon Miller of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Ohio and Michigan made the announcement after the sentencing proceeding today before U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Black in Dayton, Ohio.

Members of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Extradition Team and International Assistance Unit, housed within New Scotland Yard, arrested Castle at his home in Northampton, England on Jan. 12, 2012.

A federal grand jury indicted Castle on February 15, 2012 and Castle pleaded guilty on October 3, 2013 to charges of coercion of a minor, travelling with intent to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor and transferring obscene material to a minor. Castle admitted that, posing as a male named Richard Joshua Parker, he used the Internet between March 2009 and June 2011 to coerce a juvenile to engage in illicit sexual activity. He flew to Dayton in June 2011 to engage in illicit sexual relations with the juvenile and stayed approximately three weeks. Castle also admitted that he transferred obscene materials to this same juvenile.

“Threats against our children can come from any corner of the globe,” U.S. Attorney Stewart said. “We must become partners with law enforcement agencies around the world in order to fight child exploitation effectively.”

The case was investigated by HSI, the Englewood Police Department, and the Vandalia Police Department. The Department is grateful for the invaluable support provided by the Miami Valley Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, and the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Service, the HSI Attaché London Office, and the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided assistance with Castle’s extradition.

“This case is a disturbing reminder that international borders are no longer a hindrance for child predators,” said Miller. “However, today’s significant sentencing should assure victims around the world that HSI and our partners in the international law enforcement community are committed to aggressively targeting those engaged in these heinous acts.”  

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheila Lafferty of the Southern District of Ohio and Trial Attorney Mi Yung Claire Park of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

Updated July 23, 2015