Trinity Mount Ministries: Delaware

Showing posts with label Delaware. Show all posts

Thursday, November 8, 2018

4 Suspects Arrested In Delaware Human Trafficking Case, Police Say

Laurel– The Delaware State Police in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations have arrested four suspects in connection with a human trafficking case.

The investigation began on Wednesday, October 30, 2018 when Troopers were dispatched to the Relax Inn located at 30702 Sussex Highway at approximately 8:28 a.m., for a report of a female who was being held against her will and forced to perform sex acts on people. Upon arrival, Troopers located a 22-year-old female victim from Maryland. It was learned that the victim had been taken back and forth between Delaware and Maryland against her will and forced to perform commercial sex acts on multiple people in exchange for compensation.

Three suspects were initially taken into custody at the Relax Inn without incident, 25-year-old David B. Goodwin of Federalsburg, MD, 27-year-old Kevonne L. Murphy of Federalsburg, MD, and 38-year-old Lakeya N. Aldridge of Federalsburg, MD.

Through investigative measures a fourth suspect was identified as 30-year-old Joshua Lankford of Federalsburg, MD.

All four suspects were charged with the following:

Kidnapping First Degree
Human Trafficking – Sexual Servitude
Trafficking an Individual
Conspiracy Second Degree

Goodwin, Murphy, and Aldridge were transported back to Troop 4 and arraigned before the Justice of the Peace Court 3. Goodwin and Murphy were committed to the Sussex Correctional Institution on $100,000.00 cash only bond. Aldridge was committed to the Delores J. Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution on $102,000.00 cash only bond.

On November 2, 2018 Lankford was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Task Force at a residence in the 3000 block of Holland Drive, Federalsburg, MD without incident. He was extradited back to Delaware where he was arraigned before the Justice of the Peace Court 2 and committed to the Sussex Correctional Institution on $102,000.00 cash only bond.

If you or someone you know is a victim or witness of crime or have lost a loved one to a sudden death and are in need of assistance, the Delaware State Police Victim Services Unit/Delaware Victim Center is available to offer you support and resources 24 hours a day through a toll free hotline 1800 VICTIM-1. (1-800 842-8461). You may also email the unit Director at debra.reed@state.de.us

Monday, July 23, 2018

Delaware Man Sentenced to Prison for Production of Child Pornography

A Dover, Delaware man was sentenced to 25 years in prison today for production of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss of the District of Delaware.

Daniel Arthur Hill, 30, pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography on Nov. 9, 2017. U.S. District Judge Gregory M. Sleet of the District of Delaware sentenced Hill to serve 300 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release.

According to admissions made as part of his guilty plea, Hill was arrested by the Delaware State Police Department for solicitation of a minor on Dec. 16, 2015. Hill had met a person online who he believed was a 14-year-old girl and with whom he had arranged to engage in sexual intercourse. Following his arrest, a court-authorized search of Hill’s electronic devices revealed evidence that Hill had produced images of child pornography depicting two minors under the age of 12. Hill had also distributed child pornography to others via online chat groups. On Aug. 11, 2016, Hill was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware for enticement of a minor and for possession, production, and distribution of child pornography.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Delaware State Police investigated this case. Trial Attorney Nadia Prinz of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham L. Robinson of the District of Delaware prosecuted the case. CEOS Trial Attorney Kathryn Furtado also served as a vital member of the prosecution team at earlier stages of the litigation.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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.justice.gov/psc.

Topic(s):

Project Safe Childhood

Component(s):

Criminal Division

Criminal - Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section

USAO - Delaware

Press Release Number:

18-965

Updated July 23, 2018

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Delaware Man Pleads Guilty to Production and Transportation of Child Pornography:

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Monday, September 12, 2011

Delaware Man Pleads Guilty to Production and Transportation of Child Pornography

WASHINGTON – A Wilmington, Del., man pleaded guilty today to production and transportation of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Charles M. Oberly III of the District of Delaware and John P. Kelleghan, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Philadelphia.

Leonard Wasylyk, 49, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Sue L. Robinson in the District of Delaware. Wasylyk has been detained since his Dec. 9, 2010, arrest.

According to statements made and documents filed in court, an undercover agent from the Wilmington office of the Department of Homeland Security HSI identified Wasylyk during an online undercover investigation into a private peer-to-peer network being used to trade images of child pornography. After downloading computer files containing child pornography from Wasylyk’s home computer, federal agents arrested Wasylyk and executed a search warrant at his North Wilmington residence on Dec. 9, 2010. Law enforcement agents recovered a computer from Wasylyk’s bedroom that contained over 60,000 images of child pornography. The majority of the images depicted mostly prepubescent, adolescent and teenage boys engaged in sex acts with other boys or adult males. Through a forensic analysis of Wasylyk’s computer, agents learned that Wasylyk had traded images of child pornography with approximately 150 individuals, with whom he had engaged in over 15,500 instant message chats.

According to court documents, during the forensic review of Wasylyk’s computer, agents discovered more than 60 images of a young boy engaged in sexually explicit conduct with Wasylyk in the bedroom of his Wilmington residence. Agents subsequently identified the child and located him in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The child reported that Wasylyk produced the sexually explicit images when the boy was 12 or 13 years old. Forensic analysis also revealed that Wasylyk distributed the sexually explicit images that he produced to other child sex offenders while bragging about having molested the boy.

At sentencing, scheduled for Jan. 4, 2012, Wasylyk faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison on the production of child pornography charge and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the transportation of child pornography charge. Wasylyk also faces a term of supervised release of five years to life following his prison sentence, and will be required to register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction in which he lives, works or attends school.

This case is being investigated by HSI. This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Thomas Franzinger of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. McAndrew of the District of Delaware.