Former Truck Driver Sentenced For Transporting And Sexually Abusing Minors |
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Topics: David Allen Vickers
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U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of New York
23 March 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Williams J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that David Allen Vickers, 51, of Stanley, NY, who was convicted following a jury trial of transportation of minors with the intent to have sex, was sentenced to life in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
“The harm inflicted upon the victims in this case by the defendant continues to impact those victims to this day,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “Given that the victims’ complete recovery could very well take a lifetime, it is particularly appropriate that the defendant today received a life sentence - the highest permitted by law. Such a sentence is directly proportional to the harm caused, and ensures that no other minor will ever again be abused by this defendant.”
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. Vickers also established and operated a bed and breakfast on Seneca Lake, “Paradise on the Lake,” where 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.
Vickers cover was so devious, in fact, that both of the victims named in the indictment against the defendant had at one time been assigned to his custody by a Family Court Judge.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Adam S. Cohen, Special Agent in Charge, and the Batavia City Police Department under the direction of Chief Shawn Heubusch.