Man Indicted for Online Enticement and Child Pornography Offenses

ROCHESTER, NY—Kathleen M. Mehltretter, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, announced that a Federal Grand Jury in Rochester has returned a four count Indictment charging DALTON E. WILKE, 45, of Conesus, New York, with Using the Internet to Persuade or Entice a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity, Receipt of Child Pornography, and Possession of Child Pornography. The Online Enticement charge is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, Receipt of Child Pornography is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years imprisonment, and a maximum period of 20 years imprisonment, and Possession of Child Pornography is punishable by a maximum period of 10 years imprisonment. Each count is also punishable by a fine of up to $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig R. Gestring, who will handle the trial of the case, stated that the defendant is alleged to have engaged in sexually explicit online chats with a person he believed to be a 15 year old boy. The defendant was arrested by Federal Agents on August 8, 2008, after traveling to Batavia, New York to meet with the child. A subsequent search of the defendant's computers located child pornography.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States 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 Indictment was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Laurie J. Bennett and the Batavia Police Department, under the direction of Acting Chief Randy Baker.

The defendant will be arraigned before U.S. District Court Judge Charles J. Siragusa. 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.

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