United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

JURY FINDS MAN GUILTY OF ENTICING MINOR GIRL
TO ENGAGE IN SEXUAL ACTS - FACES UP TO LIFE IN FEDERAL PRISON

Defendant Committed Similar Acts When He Attempted to Meet Another Underage Girl and Was Caught in Sting Conducted by Perverted Justice and NBC’s Dateline

FORT WORTH, Texas — Following a one-day trial before U.S. District Judge John A. McBryde, a jury convicted Randall Howard Wolford, 54, of Midlothian, Texas, on one count of enticement of a child, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Wolford was charged in a federal complaint in September 2008 and was then indicted by a grand jury in Fort Worth the following month. He has been detained pending the disposition of his case. Wolford faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison. Sentencing is set for April 17, 2009.

According to testimony at trial, in March 2008, an officer with the Samson Park Police Department, working in an undercover capacity and posing as a 13-year-old female named Jennifer, entered a Yahoo! chat room and was contacted by Randall Howard Wolford, using the screen name of lighmanntx@yahoo.com. Wolford continued to chat, using instant messaging, with the undercover officer only when the officer assured him that he had chatted online with other men before and had received sexually graphic photos from these men. The undercover officer repeatedly denied being law enforcement or working for Perverted Justice, as Wolford accused. In less than two hours of online chatting with someone whom he thought was a 13-year-old girl, the conversation turned sexual in nature and Wolford wanted the undercover officer to give details about a prior encounter with another man. Wolford continued to tell the undercover in sexually graphic detail what he wanted to do to her.

More online chats ensued, and in one, Wolford offered to send a webcam to the undercover officer, saying that he would enjoy seeing her on camera and that he wouldn’t meet anyone without first seeing them on a webcam. Later, in the same conversation, he displays a webcam video of himself masturbating. They schedule a meeting and Wolford suggests that she could stay home sick from school one day when her mother is working but that they would have to talk on the phone before they meet. The reason is for the defendant to verify the child’s age. Several more chats ensued between Wolford and the undercover officer in which Wolford attempted to persuade, induce or entice the 13-year-old to engage in sexual activity with him. On April 14, 2008, Wolford provided his phone number to her to call him. Later this phone number was verified as the same phone number being used by Wolford when his phone was seized following his arrest.

On April 15, 2008, a Samson Park Police Department employee, posing as the 13-year-old girl, called Wolford. The phone call was cryptic in nature with Wolford not wanting to speak of any sexual details.

On April 23, 2008, Wolford contacted the undercover officer to set up a meeting at McDonalds in Fort Worth. Wolford stated that he would have a drink waiting for her in his vehicle. He failed to show, however, and they set up another meeting for April 30th at the same McDonalds. That day, the same Samson Park Police Department employee that made the phone call to Wolford was dropped off a block away from the restaurant 30 minutes prior to the scheduled meeting. She was wearing the clothing the undercover officer had stated she would be wearing. As she entered the McDonalds, Wolford drove up to her and stopped, stating, “Hey, Jen... over here, get in.” The undercover officer then stated that she had to use the restroom and that she would be right back. Wolford then left the area and was arrested.

According to the Affidavit, during the course of the investigation, the undercover officer discovered that Wolford had committed similar acts a few years ago when he attempted to meet another underage girl and was caught in a sting operation conducted by Perverted Justice and NBC’s Dateline television show.

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.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the Samson Park Police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex C. Lewis and Aisha Saleem are prosecuting the case.

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