U.S. Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation
|
|
U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation |
|
|
| In Reply, Please Refer to Release No. |
219 South Dearborn Street Chicago, Illinois 60604 |
|
|
|
March 13, 2003 New York Man Arrested on Interstate Sex Charges Thomas J. Kneir, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Michael F. Sheahan, Cook County Sheriff, announced today the arrest of FRANCOIS COTE, age 43, who is a resident of Oceanside, New York. COTE was arrested yesterday afternoon, without incident, by FBI Special Agents, Cook County Sheriff's Investigators and Officers from the Oak Park, Illinois Police Department inside a fast food restaurant near the intersection of Harlem and Madison in Oak Park. COTE is expected to be charged in a criminal complaint filed later today in U.S. District Court in Chicago with Traveling Interstate to have Sexual Relations with a Minor, which is a felony offense. It is alleged that COTE flew to Chicago Wednesday morning to meet what he thought was a 14 year old female that he had met on-line in January. In reality, COTE had been corresponding with an undercover officer assigned to the Cook County Sheriff's Child Exploitation Unit. When COTE arrived at a predetermined location in Oak Park to meet the female juvenile, he was taken into custody. COTE is expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Chicago, later today, at which time he will be formally charged. If convicted of the offense, COTE faces a maximum penalty of up to 15 years incarceration and a fine of $250,000. The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. EDITOR's NOTE: A copy of the complaint filed against COTE will be available from the Chicago FBI Press Office at (312) 786-2645. |
