The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced  that Eugene Kincaid Howard pled guilty today to charges involving interstate travel for the purpose of engaging in illegal sexual activity with a minor. 

Mr. Howard met "Jack" in an Internet chat room called "Nudists" in May 2002.  Mr. Howard believed that Jack was the uncle of two girls who were 9 and 11 years old.  Jack was actually a special agent with the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Investigation, Sexual Predator Apprehension Team, posing in an undercover capacity.  Mr. Howard chatted with the undercover agent using the internet between May and August 2002 during which time he told the undercover agent that he wanted to engage in sexual activity with the two minor girls, and made arrangements with the undercover agent to meet in a hotel room in San Francisco for that purpose.  Mr. Howard then flew to San Francisco on August 27, 2002, and was arrested when he arrived at the hotel.

The sentencing of Mr. Howard is scheduled for September 11, 2003, before Judge Martin J. Jenkins in San Francisco.  The maximum statutory penalty for a violation of 18 U.S.C. §2423(b) is 15 years in custody and a fine of $250,000.  However, the actual sentence be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and will be imposed in the discretion of the Court.

The prosecution is the result of an investigation by agents of the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Investigation, Sexual Predator Apprehension Team, and the FBI.  Melinda Haag is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case.