LUBBOCK, Texas — In unrelated cases, two Lubbock, Texas, men, who each pleaded guilty in September 2016 to one count of attempted enticement of a minor, were sentenced on Friday to hefty federal prison sentences, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Dustin Mathew Buckaloo, 29, of Lubbock, Texas, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 162 months in federal prison. Patrick Wong, 36, was sentenced by Judge Cummings to 120 months in federal prison.
According to documents filed in Buckaloo’s case, from approximately July 9 through July 23, 2016, Buckaloo used Facebook messaging to communicate with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, who was, in fact, an undercover officer. In the communications, he knowingly persuaded, induced, and enticed, and attempted to entice this person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, to engage in sexual activity with him. On July 23, 2016, Buckaloo made arrangements to meet the person he believed was the minor girl, and he was arrested when he arrived at the agreed-upon location.
According to documents filed in Wong’s case, from approximately June 26, 2016, through August 9, 2016, Wong used Facebook messaging to communicate with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, who was, in fact, an undercover officer. In these communications, Wong knowingly persuaded, induced, and enticed, and attempted to entice this person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, to engage in sexual activity with him. On August 9, 2016, Wong made arrangements to meet the person he believed was the minor girl, and he was arrested when he arrived at the agreed-upon location.
The cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”
The Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI investigated the cases. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy was in charge of the prosecutions.
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