Kate E. Brubacher, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas
A Kansas man, Daniel Paul Prekopa, has been sentenced to 87 months in prison after pleading guilty in two separate cases involving criminal activities with minors. The court documents reveal that the 46-year-old from Wichita admitted guilt to one count of attempted travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and another count of possession of child sexual abuse materials.
In September 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted the Wichita Police Department about a cybertip regarding child sexual abuse materials uploaded to a Dropbox account. The investigation confirmed that the account belonged to Prekopa and contained materials depicting children under 12 engaged in sexual acts.
In another investigation during the same month, the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force conducted covert operations on platforms frequented by adults attempting to lure minors into sexual activities. An undercover agent posing as a minor received explicit messages from Prekopa, who sent provocative photos and made sexually illicit comments. At one point, he wrote, “I could get in major trouble since you're under 16. But idc either” and “And you have damn cops online trying to catfish people to get them in trouble.”
Prekopa was arrested by FBI agents after traveling from Kansas City, Missouri, to Overland Park, Kansas, intending to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.
The investigations were carried out by the FBI, Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), and the Wichita Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Faiza Alhambra prosecuted these cases.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. For more information about this initiative, visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
