17 December 2004 -Marcos Daniel Jiménez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Christopher A. Wray, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice; Jesus Torres, Special Agent in Charge, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced today that defendant, Kent Frank, made his initial appearance in federal court in the Southern District of Florida, where he faces a nine (9) count Indictment. The Indictment, returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Miami, Florida, charges Frank with five (5) counts of traveling in foreign commerce and engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(c), and four (4) counts of purchasing or otherwise obtaining custody or control of a minor with the intent to promote the production of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2251A(b)(2)(A). Section 2423(c) is a statutory provision contained in the PROTECT Act, which became effective on April 30, 2003.
Counts 1 through 5 of the Indictment charge that on dates between September 2003 and January 2004, Frank traveled in foreign commerce, from the United States to Cambodia, and engaged in illicit sexual conduct with minors, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(c). Counts 5 through 9 charge that on dates between September 2003 and January 2004, having traveled in interstate and foreign commerce, Frank purchased and otherwise obtained custody or control of a minor with the intent to promote the engaging in of sexually explicit conduct by such minor for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251A(b)(2)(A). The case stems from the arrest of Frank by the Cambodian National Police in January, 2004, on debauchery charges.
Mr. Jiménez commended the investigative efforts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including the ICE Attache Office in Bangkok, Thailand. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Lopez and Department of Justice Child Exploitation Obscenity Section Trial Attorney Wendy Waldron.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls . Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on .
