CONCORD - United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced that a jury found Kurt Carpentino, 34, of Manchester, New Hampshire, guilty of transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
In a trial that began on June 7, 2018 and ended with the jury’s verdict on June 11, 2018, evidence demonstrated that Carpentino transported a person under the age of 18 from New Hampshire to Vermont with intent to engage in sexual activity.
Evidence at trial showed that on April 27, 2017, the Hinsdale, New Hampshire Police Department received a report of a missing 14-year-old child. The child was found later that morning at an abandoned motel owned by the defendant’s sister in Rockingham, Vermont. The child told the police that the defendant took her to the motel and that they had sex there. The defendant was observed driving by the motel and arrested nearby. Later that day, he admitted to taking the child from New Hampshire to Vermont and having sex with her at the hotel. A few weeks later, the defendant wrote the victim letters from jail, attempting to get her to recant her statement to the police.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 19, 2018. The defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
“Those who prey on children will be prosecuted aggressively," said U.S. Attorney Murray. “There is no place in our community for those who attempt to rob children of their innocence. I am grateful for the courage of the young victim, as well as the hard work and dedication of the investigators and prosecutors who secured this guilty verdict."
The investigation in this case was led by the Vermont State Police, Homeland Security Investigations in Manchester, New Hampshire, the Hinsdale, New Hampshire Police Department, the Manchester, New Hampshire Police Department, the Springfield, Vermont Police Department, and the New Hampshire State Police, with the assistance of the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Seth R. Aframe and Georgiana L. Konesky.
In February 2006, the Department of Justice introduced Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
