August 23, 2007

California man indicted in Alaska on charges of aggravated sexual abuse

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A federal grand jury in Alaska today indicted a 46-year-old California man on charges of attempted aggravated sexual abuse following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Danny Michael Harvey, of Lancaster, Calif., traveled to Alaska earlier this month with the intent of engaging in a sexual act with a 6-year-old girl. ICE agents arrested him at Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage upon his arrival in Alaska.

Harvey began chatting online in June 2007 with an individual he thought was going to make the young girl available to him to be sexually abused. He was, in fact, chatting with an undercover ICE agent.

"Identifying and investigating those who seek to victimize children is one of the most important responsibilities ICE has," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations that oversees Alaska. "ICE will continue to aggressively investigate this type of crime in hopes of deterring future incidents."

This investigation is being conducted under the auspices of ICE's Operation Predator and the Department of Justice's initiative, Project Safe Childhood. Both initiatives target those who prey on and exploit children, including Internet pornographers, international sex tourists, and human traffickers. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices, Project Safe Childhood combines 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. Additional information about Operation Predator is available at www.ice.gov. ICE encourages the reporting of suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.

-- 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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