Two men who crossed state lines to commit sex acts with a minor were sentenced Feb. 25, 2014, to federal prison.
Mensur Malik, age 23, from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, received a sentence of 151 months’ imprisonment after a Sept. 23, 2013, guilty plea to one count of transporting a minor across a state line with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Salim Issa, age 23, from Sioux Falls, received a sentence of 46 months’ imprisonment after a Sept. 13, 2013, guilty plea to one count of traveling across a state line for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct.
At his plea hearing, Malik admitted that, in July 2012, he transported a minor female from Clear Lake, Iowa, to Sioux Falls with the intent to engage in sexual activity with her. At his plea hearing, Issa admitted that, in July 2012, when he and Malik traveled from South Dakota to Iowa, he intended to have sex with the minor female.
Malik and Issa were sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Malik was sentenced to 151 months’ imprisonment, a special assessment of $100 was imposed, and he must serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. Issa was sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment, a special assessment of $100 was imposed, and he must serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Both Malik and Issa must comply with all sex offender registration and public notification requirements.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Clear Lake Police Department, the Sioux Falls Police Department, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources."
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 13-3024.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
