Wisconsin Man Sentenced for Enticing and Traveling to Have Sex with a Minor

HOUSTON – A 42-year-old Wisconsin man has been ordered to prison following his convictions of traveling to Texas with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and enticement of a four-year-old child, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Benjamin David Sherwood pleaded guilty Aug. 23, 2017.

Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal took into consideration that Sherwood had a prior juvenile adjudication for third degree sexual assault from Wisconsin as well as the fact that he has been battling a long-term sexual interest in children. She then sentenced Sherwood to 135 months for the traveling and enticement convictions that will run concurrently. Sherwood was further ordered to be placed on  supervised release for the rest of his life following completion of his prison term, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the Internet. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

The investigation into Sherwood began on Aug. 10, 2015, when an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) participated in an undercover operation. The agent entered a chat room that was dedicated to the discussion and promotion of child abuse that focused on infants and toddlers. She portrayed herself as a mother of a two-year-old female. 

From August 2015 through May 2017, Sherwood and the undercover agent communicated via chats, emails, text messages and phone conversations in which they discussed Sherwood wanting to have sex with the toddler. Sherwood admitted he was very “turned on” by the fact that the child wore a diaper and used a pacifier. 

On May 12, 2017, Sherwood was arrested in Houston after traveling from Wisconsin to meet the undercover agent and whom he believed was her four-year-old daughter. Sherwood had rented a hotel room, brought the child clothes and a stuffed animal, and arranged the room in anticipation of having sex with the child.

HSI conducted the investigation.   

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Ann Leo prosecuted the case, which 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."