April 20, 2007

Former Peace Corps volunteer sentenced to more than four years for sexually abusing a minor while serving in Costa Rica

SAN JOSE – A Santa Cruz man was sentenced in U.S. District Court this week to 51 months in prison for sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica, where he was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer. This prosecution is the result of a two-year investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Peace Corps Office of the Inspector General and the Diplomatic Security Service of the United States Department of State.

Timothy Ronald Obert, 38, admitted that in September of 2001, he traveled to Costa Rica to work as a volunteer for the Peace Corps, where he was assigned to work with “PANI,” Costa Rica’s child welfare agency. Obert admitted that in July 2003, while he was in Costa Rica, he engaged in illicit sexual conduct with a 14-year-old Costa Rican minor at his apartment.

“This prosecution shows that we will aggressively pursue and prosecute sexual predators, including United States citizens who choose to molest minors in foreign countries,” said U.S. Attorney Scott Schools. “In this case, because Obert was a Peace Corps volunteer when he molested the minor in Costa Rica, we were able to reach his criminal conduct under that provision of the Patriot Act that expanded the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States to cover conduct by U.S. personnel on U.S. missions while in foreign countries.”

The investigation began after a fellow Peace Corps volunteer who was staying at Obert’s apartment reported seeing a naked minor emerging from Obert’s bedroom in the early morning hours of July 6, 2003. The incident was reported to the Associate Director of the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, who ultimately terminated Obert from the Peace Corps. The two-year investigation included interviews with numerous witnesses in Costa Rica and elsewhere, including one of the minor victims who reported that Obert had engaged in sexual activity with him on multiple occasions.

“Some people mistakenly believe they can escape detection and prosecution by committing child sex crimes overseas,” said Charles DeMore, special agent in charge for the ICE office of investigations in San Francisco. “This case shows the lengths to which ICE will go to use its powerful authorities to protect children worldwide.”

Obert was indicted by a federal Grand Jury on June 23, 2004, which subsequently returned two superseding indictments charging him with traveling and engaging in illicit sexual conduct with another person and sexual abuse of a minor within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. He pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor on February 1, 2006.

This case is the first prosecution of a Peace Corps volunteer for sexually assaulting a minor while serving in the Peace Corps in a foreign country.

“The sentencing of former Peace corps volunteer Timothy Obert is evidence of our zero tolerance policy for misconduct during Peace Corps service,” said Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter. “We maintain high ethical and conduct standards for all our volunteers. Today’s sentencing shows that we will not tolerate any wrongdoing.”

Obert is currently free on a $100,000 bond, and will begin serving his sentence next month.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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