UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
GRETCHEN C.F. SHAPPERT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2008
CONTACT: SUELLEN PIERCE
704.338.3120
FAX 704.227.0264
LEICESTER MAN CONVICTED OF ONLINE ENTICEMENT OF A MINOR Defendant Facing No Less Than Ten Years in Federal Prison ASHEVILLE, NC - Leicester resident Robert Martin Kutzer, 32, was convicted of online enticement of a minor to engage in an unlawful sex act on Friday, January 25, 2008, following a two-day jury trial in federal court in Asheville, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced today.
The case stems from the arrest of Kutzer in October of last year by Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office personnel following his participation in unlawful online “chats” over the period from March 2007 to September 2007 with an undercover law enforcement officer who was posing as a 14-year-old girl.
After less than 45 minutes of deliberations following the trial before Judge Lacy Thornburg, the federal jury in Asheville found Kutzer guilty of a single count as charged in a federal bill of indictment which had been filed in U.S. District Court in October 2007. Specifically, the jury convicted Kutzer of online enticement of a minor to engage in an unlawful sex act.
The jury found that Kutzer engaged in several online chat conversations with an undercover detective from the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office in a Yahoo! chat room. Evidence also showed that the defendant believed the detective to be a 14-year-old girl from Buncombe County. The jury heard evidence that Kutzer steered the online conversation to the topic of sex and that the defendant was responsible for injecting explicit and sexually graphic content into the online chat and that the defendant then arranged to meet this person whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl. Robert Martin Kutzer was taken into custody by United States Marshals following the pronouncement of the verdict on Friday, January 25, 2007. A date for the sentencing of Robert Martin Kutzer has not yet been set by the court.
“This case underscores the Department of Justice’s strong commitment to prosecuting individuals who would engage in sexual exploitation of minors by enticing or coercing them to engage in an unlawful sexual act while masked in the anonymity of the Internet,” stated U.S. Attorney Shappert.
The online enticement charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of ten years in prison and a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison. In July of 2006 the mandatory minimum penalty for this crime was increased from five to ten years via The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. There is no possibility of parole in the federal system.
The defendant is a Leicester resident, formerly employed by the Asheville Fire Department. He also served as a volunteer Leicester firefighter. The case was investigated by the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Gast of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina, Asheville Division.
This federal prosecution was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims.
Popular social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook make it easier for teens to post and share personal information, pictures, and videos, which may make them more vulnerable to online predators. Teenage girls are particularly at risk of online sexual exploitation. A recent study by University of New Hampshire researchers for National Center for Missing and Exploited Children found that of the approximately one in seven youth who received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet, 70 percent were girls.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov. For more information about the media campaign sponsored by the United States Postal Inspection Service, Think Before You Post, visit http://www.cybertipline.com.
Project Safe Childhood partners for the Western District of North Carolina include the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Secret Service, the North Carolina Attorney General, the North Carolina SBI, the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, and a host of local law enforcement agencies. If your civic or service group is interested in having a Justice Department official come and speak to its members about Project Safe Childhood, please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte at 704.344.6222, and ask for Suellen Pierce.