February 05, 2007

MAN SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS FOR USING THE INTERNET
TO SET UP SEXUAL ENCOUNTER WITH 14-YEAR-OLD FEMALE

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Christopher M. Wodrich, 25, of Shelby, N.Y., was sentenced to five years in prison and placed on lifetime supervised release by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa, in connection with his guilty plea in August 2006 to using an interstate facility to attempt to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual conduct, U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn of the Western District of New York announced today.

According to the charges, in May 2006, Wodrich engaged in Internet chats with a Monroe County Sheriff's Office Deputy who was acting in an undercover capacity as a 14-year-old female residing in Rochester, N.Y. During the Internet chats, Wodrich, using the screen name "wildwoodie21," made arrangements to meet with the 14-year-old at the Bill Gray's restaurant in Irondequoit, N.Y., for the purposes of having sexual activity with the minor. On May 25, 2006, Wodrich was arrested at the Bill Gray's restaurant after approaching a Monroe County Sheriff's Office female undercover officer who was portraying herself to be the 14 year-old girl.

This case was 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 conviction in this case was the culmination of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Laurie Bennett, and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office under the direction of Sheriff Patrick M. O'Flynn.