Sexual Abuse of a Child

Attempted Sexual Assault and Lewd Act on a Child, Possession of Child Pornography

May 2018
Location: Schofield Barracks, Hawaii Rank: Army E-5
Charges: Attempted Sexual Assault on a Child , Attempted Lewd Act on a Child , Possession of Child Pornography Result: Pre-Trial Agreement, NG Attempted Sexual Assault of a Child, G Attempted Lewd Act of Child, NG Possession of Child Pornography. 12-month confinement cap.

Our client, an Army E-5, was caught in an Air Force “To Catch a Predator” sting operation in Honolulu, Hawaii. In this case, an Air Force OSI agent was posting ads online and taking on the persona of a 15-year-old boy looking for sex. Our client was arrested after arriving at the bait house on Hickam, AFB.

After being arrested, the case was transferred to CID, where a forensic examination of our client’s phone was conducted. The digital forensic examination found child pornography on our client’s phone. He was subsequently charged with attempted sexual assault of a child, attempted lewd act on a child, and possession of child pornography.

Mr. Bilecki was retained and filed a motion to suppress the suspected child pornography found on our client’s phone, which had been obtained without a proper warrant. The military judge granted to the suppression motion in full. Mr. Bilecki then leveraged that suppression motion and obtained a pre-trial agreement for our client in which the most serious offenses—attempted sexual assault of a child and possession of child pornography—would be dismissed in exchange for a plea of guilty to the attempted lewd act on a child (sending sexual text messages) with a confinement cap of 12 months.

This pre-trial agreement was accepted and our client escaped a conviction for the two most serious charges against him.