Danbury Man Pleads Guilty to Child Exploitation Offense

Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that WAYNE MARCELL, 36, of Danbury, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to one count of sexual exploitation of a child.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in April 2021, a 14-year-old female in Georgia met Robert Fyke, of Lubbock, Texas, on an online video/chat platform.  Fyke and the minor victim then used Kik and other social media platforms to communicate.  In May 2021, Fyke drove from Texas to Georgia, picked up the minor victim and drove her back to Lubbock.  The minor victim resided with Fyke for approximately four weeks, and Fyke produced sexually explicit images of the victim.

While living with Fyke, the minor victim began communicating with Marcell on video game and social media platforms.  In June 2021, Marcell paid an individual $2,000 to drive the minor victim from Texas to Illinois.  Marcell then drove from Connecticut to Illinois, picked up the minor victim, and brought her to his home in Danbury.  Marcell engaged in multiple illicit sexual acts with the minor victim, and took photos and videos of the sexual abuse.

Marcell has been detained since his arrest on related state charges on June 23, 2021.

At sentencing, which is not scheduled, Marcell faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years.

Fyke pleaded guilty to a related charge in the Northern District of Texas and, on December 16, 2021, was sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment.

This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service and Danbury Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford with the cooperation of the Danbury State’s Attorney’s Office.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com