NY man sentenced to 17 years for sexual abuse of child
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A convicted sex offender was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years in federal prison followed by 20 years of supervised release for transportation of a minor for illicit purposes. This sentenced resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the New York State Police.
According to prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, Michael J. Rolfe, 48, of Gates, N.Y., took a child who was less than 12 years old on a trip from Rochester to locations in Texas in August 2012 while he was employed as a long distance truck driver. Rolfe engaged in sexual acts, on more than one occasion, with the child while traveling outside of New York. The defendant was previously convicted on federal charges of possessing child pornography while serving in the U.S. Navy in 2002.
"Mr. Rolfe’s reprehensible behavior has damaged an innocent child’s life in ways that may never be repaired," said James C. Spero, special agent in charge of HSI Buffalo. "This sentencing should send a strong message to child predators that HSI and our partners will search them out and hold them accountable before the law."
The investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.
HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.
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