Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—March 11, 2014. Richard Castle, 47, a resident of the United Kingdom, has been sentenced to serve 192 months in prison in connection with a trip he made to Ohio from his home in the United Kingdom to have illicit sexual activity with a minor in June 2011.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Carter M. Stewart of the Southern District of Ohio and Special Agent in Charge Marlon Miller of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Ohio and Michigan made the announcement after the sentencing proceeding before U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Black in Dayton, Ohio.
Members of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Extradition Team and International Assistance Unit, housed within New Scotland Yard, arrested Castle at his home in Northampton, England, on Jan. 12, 2012.
A federal grand jury indicted Castle on Feb. 15, 2012, and Castle pleaded guilty on Oct. 3, 2013, to charges of coercion of a minor, travelling with intent to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor and transferring obscene material to a minor. Castle admitted that, posing as a male named Richard Joshua Parker, he used the Internet between March 2009 and June 2011 to coerce a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity. He flew to Dayton in June 2011 to engage in illicit sexual relations with the minor and stayed approximately three weeks. Castle also admitted that he transferred obscene materials to this same minor.
The case was investigated by HSI, the Englewood Police Department, and the Vandalia Police Department. The Department is grateful for the invaluable support provided by the Miami Valley Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Service, the HSI Attaché London Office, and the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided assistance with Castle’s extradition.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheila Lafferty of the Southern District of Ohio and Trial Attorney Mi Yung C. Park of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.
Source: justice.gov
