Press Release
TSA SCREENER SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ENTICING A CHILD TO ENGAGE IN SEXUAL ACTIVITY
September 5, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Ken Mascara, Sheriff, St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, announced today that defendant Richard McLaughlin, Sr., of Everett, Massachusetts was sentenced on September 2, 2008 by United States District Court Judge K. Michael Moore to 180 months' imprisonment, followed by a lifetime of supervised release.
On March 13, 2008, a Ft. Pierce Grand Jury returned an Indictment charging McLaughlin with persuading, inducing, enticing or coercing a person under 18 years of age to engage in sexual activity, and attempting to do so, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2422(b).
According to the Indictment and a complaint previously filed in this case, during the course of the investigation, McLaughlin, a TSA Screener working at Boston's Logan Airport, entered an America Online chat room and began to correspond with an undercover police officer posing as the father of an eleven year old handicapped girl. In addition to sending the undercover officer several links to web sites containing child pornography, McLaughlin expressed his desire to engage in sexual activity with the child. McLaughlin repeatedly directed the undercover officer to engage in sexual activity with the child while he (McLaughlin) listened to the activity over the phone. McLaughlin also stated that he mailed money to the undercover officer in order to facilitate the purchase of a web camera so that he (McLaughlin) could watch as the undercover officer sexually molested the fictitious child.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rinku Talwar.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Technical comments about this website can be e-mailed to the Webmaster. PLEASE NOTE: The United States Attorney's Office does not respond to non-technical inquiries made to this website. If you wish to make a request for information, you may contact our office at 305-961-9001, or you may send a written inquiry to the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, 99 NE 4th Street, Miami, Fl. 33132.