Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that WAYNE MARCELL, 36, of Danbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to 264 months of imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for engaging in illicit sexual acts with child, and photographing and video recording his sexual abuse. Judge Bolden also ordered Marcell to pay a $30,000 fine.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in April 2021, a 14-year-old female in Georgia met Robert Fyke, of Lubbock, Texas, on an online video/chat platform. Fyke and the minor victim then used Kik and other social media platforms to communicate. In May 2021, Fyke drove from Texas to Georgia, picked up the minor victim and drove her back to Lubbock. The minor victim resided with Fyke for approximately four weeks, and Fyke produced sexually explicit images of the victim.
While living with Fyke, the minor victim began communicating with Marcell on video game and social media platforms. In June 2021, Marcell paid an individual $2,000 to drive the minor victim from Texas to Illinois. Marcell then drove from Connecticut to Illinois, picked up the minor victim, and brought her to his home in Danbury. Marcell engaged in multiple illicit sexual acts with the minor victim, and took photos and videos of the sexual abuse.
Marcell has paid restitution of $86,885.74 to his minor victim.
Marcell has been detained since his arrest on related state charges on June 23, 2021. On April 5, 2022, he pleaded guilty in federal court to sexual exploitation of a child.
Fyke pleaded guilty to a related charge in the Northern District of Texas and, on December 16, 2021, was sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment.
This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service and Danbury Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas and the Danbury State’s Attorney’s Office.
This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.
Original source can be found here.
