February 5, 2007

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER AND SCOUT LEADER CHARGED WITH
ATTEMPTED ENTICEMENT OF A MINOR TO ENGAGE IN SEXUAL ACTIVITY

BUFFALO - Kollin Roy King, 26, of Hamburg, N.Y., has been charged in a one count criminal complaint with attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn of the Western District of New York announced today. If convicted, King faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and the possibility of lifetime supervised release.

According to the complaint, since December 2005, King had been chatting online with an undercover FBI agent posing as a 14-year-old boy. Throughout the chats, King and the undercover FBI agent engaged in sexually explicit conversations and King repeatedly requested a meeting for the purpose of engaging in sexually explicit conduct with the individual he believed to be a 14-year-old boy, and the 14-year-old boy's young friend. As alleged in the criminal complaint, on Jan. 30, 2007, King and the undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old boy agreed to meet at a restaurant in Cheektowaga, N.Y., on Feb. 1, 2007 at 8:30 p.m. EST. King later re-scheduled the meeting for 9:00 p.m. EST. Upon his arrival at the Cheektowaga restaurant at 9:00 p.m. EST, King was arrested.

Thereafter, King admitted to arranging other meetings that due to circumstances out of King's control never came to fruition. In each case, either the minors did not show or the pre-arranged meeting location was fictitious. King did admit however to meeting a 16-year-old boy on the Internet and engaging in sexual activity with the boy in a park and at King's apartment. King denied having any inappropriate contact with any of his students at Blasdell Elementary School or any members of his cub scout den.

King appeared before U. S. Magistrate H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr., for an initial appearance on the criminal complaint. Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison P. Gioia asked that King be detained pending further proceedings on the grounds that King poses a danger to the community and a risk of flight. King will remain in custody until a detention hearing is held on Feb. 6, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. EST, before U.S. Magistrate Schroeder.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.