Pennsylvania man sentenced to 12 years in prison for attempting to exploit a Lake Charles child, possessing child pornography

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 151 months in prison for using the internet to attempt to entice a child in Lake Charles, La., to engage in sexual activity and for possessing child pornography.

Timothy Lee Kelly, 41, of Jeannette, Penn., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik on one count of using a facility in interstate commerce to attempt to cause a minor to engage in elicit sexual activity and on one count of possession of child pornography. He was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release and is required to register as a sex offender.

According to evidence presented at the guilty pleas, Kelly began communicating with a 13-year-old girl in Lake Charles in January of 2013. He discussed sexually explicit conduct, sent explicit images of himself to the girl and requested she send sexually explicit pictures of herself. He also requested that the girl have sex with him and discussed traveling to Louisiana for that purpose. In February of 2013, Kelly was arrested in Pennsylvania for his contact with the minor. While examining the computer and electronic storage devices Kelly owned, agents found child pornography that included adult males sexually assaulting prepubescent children.

“We will aggressively pursue those who sexually abuse minors and possess child pornography,” Finley stated. “Keeping children safe is one of our highest priorities in this District. I hope this serves as a deterrent to anyone seeking to acquire this type of material and a warning that child predators cannot hide.”

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice launched nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.       

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) encourage the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE.  Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone app (http://www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app). Tips may be submitted anonymously.

Homeland Security Investigations, the Greenburg Pennsylvania Police Department and the Delaware County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke Walker and Jamilla A. Bynog prosecuted the case.