A man who attempted to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity was sentenced July 2, 2015 to over 10 years in federal prison.
Colton Rickels, age 20, of Monticello, Iowa, received the sentence after an April 20, 2015 guilty plea to one count of attempted enticement of a minor. At the guilty plea hearing, Rickels admitted that, in October 2014, he used the Internet to attempt to persuade, induce, entice, or coerce a 12-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity. At the sentencing hearing, the court also discussed defendant’s repeated sex acts with another 12-year-old girl and his inappropriate contact with a 13-year-old girl.
Rickels was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Rickels was sentenced to 121 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed, and he must also serve a 10-year term of supervised release. He 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 Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Monticello Police Department, and the Cedar Rapids Police Department.
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 15-20.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
