Pennsylvania Man Sentenced for Traveling to the New York Intending to Engage in Sexual Conduct with Two Children

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - James Obelkevich, age 52, of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 121 months (10 years and 1 month) for traveling to New York from Pennsylvania for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with two children. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and New York State Police Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen.

As part of his previously entered guilty plea, Obelkevich admitted that from the summer of 2019 until the spring of 2020 he exchanged multiple sexually explicit messages via an online social networking application with an undercover officer posing as the mother of 9-year-old and 13-year-old girls.  In these messages, Obelkevich expressed a desire to engage in sexually explicit conduct with both children.  Obelkevich further admitted that on March 11, 2020, he traveled from Pennsylvania to New York in order to meet with the children and engage in sexual conduct with them at a location in the Binghamton area.

Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy also imposed a 15-year term of supervised release, which will start after Obelkevich is released from prison.  Obelkevich will also be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the FBI Mid-State Child Exploitation Task Force, comprised of FBI Special Agents and Investigators of the New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI).  The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian S. LaRochelle as a part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.