NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

MAY 14, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD

TULSA MAN INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTING TO

ENTICE A MINOR FOR SEX, CROSSING

STATE LINES FOR ILLICIT SEX

            SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Tulsa, Okla., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for attempting to entice a minor to engage in illicit sex and for traveling across state lines to engage in illicit sex.

            Robert Dean Graef, 29, of Tulsa, was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield.

            Today’s indictment alleges that, from April 13 to April 17, 2009, Graef used the Internet to attempt to entice a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity. The federal indictment also charges Graef with traveling across state lines to Jasper County, Mo., on April 17, 2009, for the purpose of attempting to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

            The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Graef to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offenses, including a Glock .40-caliber handgun with laser sight, magazine and .40-caliber ammunition, two Glock magazines with 13 rounds of .40-caliber ammunition, 50 rounds of .45-caliber ammunition and a 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible.

            Whitworth cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Jasper County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Oklahoma Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Tulsa, Okla., Police Department and the Stillwater, Okla., Police Department.

Project Safe Childhood

            This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html