Tadashi Kura Kojima, also known as Aaron Michael Zeman, received a 15-year prison sentence and a lifetime of supervised release. This decision was made after Kojima admitted to kidnapping a 13-year-old from Utah for illegal sexual activity.
Judge Howard C. Nielson, Jr. sentenced Kojima following his guilty plea in November 2024 to charges of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Court documents and statements at the hearings revealed that Kojima traveled from Arizona between December 26 and December 28, 2022, to abduct the teenager. Kojima and the victim were later found in Nebraska, where he was apprehended.
The investigation was a collaborative effort involving the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, Layton Police Department, and the Grand Island Police Department in Nebraska. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah handled the prosecution.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative created in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to tackle the increasing issue of child sexual exploitation and abuse. This project involves federal, state, and local resources to locate and prosecute offenders who exploit children online and to rescue the victims. More information about Project Safe Childhood is available at https://www.justice.gov/psc.
