Fort Edward Man Charged with Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Timothy J. Bush, 49, of Fort Edward, New York, appeared on July 23, 2020 in federal court on charges that he attempted to patronize a child under the age of 14 for a commercial sex act, announced United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Thomas F. Relford, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 

According to the criminal complaint filed in this case, on July 23, 2020, the defendant arranged to pay a woman $100 to have sex with her eleven-year-old daughter.  The woman was an FBI agent acting in an undercover capacity. On July 28, 2020, Bush was ordered detained pending further court proceedings.

The charges in the complaint are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Bush faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, a term of supervised release of at least 5 years, and up to life following any term of incarceration, a fine of up to $250,000, and will be required to register as a sex offender.   

This case is being investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the New York State Police, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shira C. Hoffman.  This case is prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.