Springfield man sentenced to 11 years for attempting to entice 2 children to engage in sexual activity

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A 51-year-old Springfield man was sentenced Friday to 132 months in federal prison for attempting to coerce and entire two children to engage in sexual activity. The sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Fairfax County Police Department.

According to court documents, in November 2013, Kenneth A. Brauckmann used a social networking website to contact a user he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, but in actuality, was an undercover Fairfax County police detective. Through online chats and text messages with the user, Brauckmann made arrangements to engage in sexual activity with her and her 13-year-old friend in his car. Brauckmann repeatedly requested nude photographs of the two girls. On Nov. 4, law enforcement officials arrested Brauckmann after he drove to a movie theater in Fairfax County, where he believed the two girls would meet him.

In court documents, Brauckmann admitted he had engaged in similar illicit behavior with actual female children from whom he requested sexual encounters and nude photographs, and that, from January 2005 through his time of arrest, he engaged in multiple sexual conversations with others claiming to be girls between 13 and 16 years old.

Kenneth A. Brauckmann, pleaded guilty May 13.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE 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-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

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.