Former Truck Driver Found Guilty On Charges

Topics:  David Allen Vickers

U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of New York
4 March 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Margaret McFarland
PHONE: (716) 843-5877
FAX: (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.– A federal jury in Buffalo has returned a verdict of guilty of all counts of an Indictment charging David Allen Vickers, 50, of Stanley, NY with transportation of minors with the intent to have sex, announced U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr., of the Western District of New York.

“That this defendant continuously abused numerous children over almost a quarter of a century makes him one of the area’s most prolific and dangerous abusers we have convicted,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “Thanks to the courage of four of the victims who testified, today’s verdicts mean that this defendant will never again harm another child.”

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron J. Mango and Elizabeth R. Moellering stated that the jury found the defendant guilty of transporting two minors in interstate commerce with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. According to the evidence introduced at trial, the defendant, an over the road truck driver, transported two victims to Canada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and repeatedly abused and molested them while he was making deliveries. This abuse occurred in the time frame of 1999 to 2007.

The trial evidence also disclosed that the defendant abused other children, with the first abuse beginning in 1983. This pattern of abuse included extensive psychological manipulation of the victims (sometimes referred to as “grooming”), and was facilitated through the defendant’s projection of benevolence to the victims’ families. The defendant also established and operated a bed and breakfast on Seneca Lake, “Paradise on the Lake,” to which he took the eventual victims in an effort to manipulate and gain their trust. The defendant also gave the victims alcohol, cigarettes, toys, and access to ATVs.

The defendant’s cover was so successful, in fact, that both of the victims named in the Indictment had at one time been assigned to the custody of the defendant by a Family Court Judge.

The sentencing is scheduled for June 24, 2015. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or both.

The trial was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of Brian P. Boetig, Special Agent in Charge, and the Batavia City Police Department under the direction of Chief Shawn Heubusch. The evidence was presented to the jury by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron J. Mango and Elizabeth R. Moellering. The case was heard by United States District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara.