United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

AUSTIN, TEXAS, MAN SENTENCED TO NEARLY 18 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON
FOR ENTICING A MINOR CHILD TO ENGAGE IN SEXUAL ACTIVITY

DALLAS — Jeffrey Blaze Toth, 55, of Austin, Texas, who pleaded guilty in September 2010 to one count of enticement of a minor, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 210 months in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime supervised release, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. In addition, Judge Lindsay ordered that Toth pay a $35,000 fine. Toth has been in custody since his arrest in Austin in May 2010 on related charges.

According to documents filed in the case, from February 15, 2010, through approximately April 22, 2010, Toth used the Internet and a cell phone to knowingly attempt to persuade, induce and entice an individual, whom he believed to be 14-years-old, to engage in sexual activity. He admitted that he initiated contact with “Alecia,” an individual whose online profile in an Internet chat room described her as a 14-year-old female from Garland, Texas. Over the course of the following two months, Toth had approximately 19 chats with “Alecia,” and during those chats, he often directed sexually explicit comments toward her, described sexually explicit conduct that she could perform or discussed sexually explicit conduct that he would like to engage in with her.

Toth also admitted that he sent “Alecia” a total of 124 sexually explicit photos depicting what appeared to be young teenaged girls engaged in sexual acts. He also admitted that he sent “Alecia” two morphed images of child pornography that he created on his computer by pasting her face onto the body of another young female performing a sexually explicit act. Toth also admitted that during some of his online chats with “Alecia,” he turned on his webcam and performed sexually explicit acts on himself while “Alecia” watched.

Toth arranged to meet “Alecia” at her apartment in Garland to engage in sexual acts with her and sent her text messages while he was driving from Austin to meet her.

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

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service and the Garland Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa J. Miller was in charge of the prosecution.

###