Registered Child Sex Offender and Maryland Man Plead Guilty to Online Child Exploitation Crimes

WILMINGTON, Del. - Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced today that a previously convicted child sex offender and a middle and high school cafeteria worker each pled guilty this morning to online child exploitation crimes in separate cases. Below is a summary of each case.

United States v. Scott Allan Rupert
Scott Allen Rupert, age 43, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, pled guilty today to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, in violation of federal law.

Because Rupert had previously been convicted of a child sex offense, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of twenty years, and a maximum sentence of life, in prison. Rupert also faces a term of supervised release following his prison sentence of five years to life, and will be required to register as a sex offender in any U.S. jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school. Rupert will be sentenced on April 4, 2013 by United States District Judge Leonard P. Stark.

According to statements made and documents filed in court, Rupert contacted an undercover federal agent posing as a 14-year-old girl in a Yahoo chat room on December 2, 2011. Within minutes of beginning the first of over twenty online chats leading to his arrest, Rupert learned that the undercover agent was a 14-year-old girl and asked ‘her’ to meet him for sexual activity. In the ensuing weeks, Rupert and the undercover agent engaged in numerous online conversations about sex acts that they would engage in, with Rupert transmitting sexually explicit images of himself to the fictitious minor via online picture sharing software. They also made arrangements to meet at Bellevue State Park on a weekday, when the fictitious minor would stay home from school. Rupert was arrested on January 9, 2012, after he traveled from his Pottstown home to Bellevue State Park to the fictitious 14-year-old girl for sexual activity. He has been incarcerated since his arrest.

This is the second time that Rupert has been arrested and charged with online child enticement offenses. Rupert was arrested on April 12, 2006 in a similar online sting operation conducted by the Virginia State Police and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, while he was on active duty in the United States Navy and stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. In July 2006, Rupert was convicted in a general court martial of Enticement of a Minor under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Rupert was sentenced to four years of confinement in the Navy Brig. Rupert was released from confinement on June 24, 2008, and registered as a sex offender.

United States v. Abraham Sacharow
Abraham Sacharow, age 43, of Baltimore, Maryland, pled guilty today to attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor, in violation of federal law.

Sacharow, who has been incarcerated since his January 25, 2012 arrest, faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release following his prison term, and will be required to register as a sex offender in any U.S. jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school. Sacharow’s sentencing is scheduled for April 4, 2012 before United States District Judge Leonard P. Stark.
According to statements made and documents filed in court, Sacharow contacted an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old girl in a Yahoo chatroom on November 28, 2011. In December 2011, Sacharow ‘friended’ the fictitious teen on Facebook and began to send more frequent, sexual messages, offering to buy the teen a webcam and asking if she “would … be good or bad on cam.” During subsequent online chats in December 2011 and January 2012, Sacharow told the teen he wanted to teach her about sex and transmitted a live webcam video of himself exposing his genitals.

In early January 2012, Sacharow made an online purchase of a webcam on Best Buy’s website. Sacharow then instructed the undercover agent to pick up the webcam at the Best Buy store, located at the Concord Mall, in Wilmington, Delaware. Sacharow ended the chat session by telling the fictitious teen that he could not “wait to watch [her] on cam” and that “no other boys or men can watch [her].” Sacharow was arrested and his residence was searched on January 25, 2012. He has been incarcerated since his arrest.

Following the plea hearings in these two cases, United States Attorney Charles M. Oberly, III stated: “Those who use the Internet to sexually exploit children either in person or online should expect to be convicted, jailed and branded as child sex offenders under federal law.”

“Sexual predators are systematically abusing and endangering the welfare of our nation’s children by using the Internet to target innocent children for the purpose of engaging in statutory rape and the production of child pornography.” said John Kelleghan, special agent in charge of HSI in Philadelphia. “We will use every tool at our disposal to track these individuals down and bring them to justice.”

These cases are being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Edward J. McAndrew and Mark M. Lee.