Truck driver sentenced to 17 years in prison for traveling to Atlanta to engage in sex acts with a child |
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U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia
29 January 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ATLANTA – Seth Weidemann has been sentenced for traveling to Atlanta to engage in sex acts with a person he believed to be an 11-year-old girl.
“Weidemann used the internet with the hope of exploiting a vulnerable child for his sexual gratification,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “This case highlights a recurring problem. It is all too easy for predators to access children through various means over the internet. We encourage parents to monitor what their children are doing online and who is in contact with them.”
“The lengths predators like Weidemann are willing to go to take advantage of a young child is frightening,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “But our warning to predators is that the FBI is determined to go to greater lengths to protect our most vulnerable citizens from those who would do them harm.”
According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court: On January 16, 2019, Seth Weidemann began communicating online with an undercover agent. Over the next month, Weidemann exchanged multiple messages with the agent in an effort to meet for sex with a person he believed to be an 11-year-old girl. At one point during the conversation, Weidemann believed he was talking directly to the 11-year-old girl. During the chats, Weidemann described the sex acts he intended to do to the child. On February 14, 2019, Weidemann traveled to the metro-Atlanta area for a planned meeting with the child. FBI agents immediately arrested him upon his arrival.
Seth Weidemann, 27, of Thorn Hill, Tennessee, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross to 17 years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Weidemann had been convicted on October 16, 2019, after he pleaded guilty to one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.
The FBI investigated this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Keen and Leanne Marek, and Emory Law School Extern Natalie Baber prosecuted the case.
This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.