A Livingston County man who thought he met a 15-year-old boy in an online chat room and agreed to meet him in Batavia for sexual activity was convicted in a Federal Court today of online enticement of a minor, receipt of child porn and possession of child porn.
Dalton Wilke, 45, of Conesus, was arrested in Batavia in August, 2008 based in a large part on the work of Police Det. Todd Crossett. Crossett had posed as the 15-year-old boy in the online chat room.
Crossett said today that he was notified that Wilke was convicted of all counts and taken into custody. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Wilke faces a minimum of 10 years in prison, with a life sentence possible. Each count is also punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 each.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Craig R. Gestring and Marisa J. Miller who tried the case, stated that the defendant engaged in a series of sexually explicit online chats with a person he believed to be a 15 year old boy.
Over a period of 5 months, Wilke repeatedly attempted to induce, persuade, and entice the child to meet for sex. A meeting was finally arranged in August of 2008 at a park in Batavia.
When Wilke arrived at the park he was met not by a 15-year-old boy, but by FBI agents and Batavia Police officers.
Following his arrest, FBI Agents seized the defendant's computers from his home in Consesus.
A forensic analysis of these computers, performed at the Regional Computer Forensic Lab, linked them to the online enticement, and also recovered a 48 minute long video depicting two young boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
In addition to finding the defendant guilty on all counts, the jury also determined that the 2004 GMC Sierra pickup truck which the defendant drove to the meeting location was subject to forfeiture.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 6, 2010, in Rochester
A year ago, Crossett was recognized by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for his work on the case.
Howard, did they indicate how
Howard,
did they indicate how much time this clown will get???
Good work Detective
Good work Detective Crossett!!!
Gary, the story says this clown will be sentenced at a later date. I hope we get an update when sentencing occurs.
Way to go Detective
Way to go Detective Crossett!! People like you let parent's like me sleep just a little better at night in a cruel world :-) Thank you for that.