Trial evidence showed Charles A. Soderman, 31, of Marathon, Fla., flew from Florida to Yuma on March 9, and then traveled to San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., in an attempt to have sex with a male child as young as 6 years of age, according to a news release from the office of the U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona.
The case was tried before U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Martone between Sept. 1- 10. The guilty verdict against Soderman was issued Thursday.
Soderman will remain in federal custody pending sentencing, which will be held before Martone on Nov. 23.
The arrest was part of an undercover operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to halt sex tourism into Mexico as part of ICE’s national program, Operation Predator.
According to the indictment against him, on March 10, 2008, Soderman, using his own name, began corresponding with an undercover ICE agent through Yahoo instant messaging and expressed an interest in engaging in sexual acts with a minor in Mexico.
Then on April 15, 2008, Soderman contacted the undercover agent, who was posing as a client of a child sex tourism business, and indicated he would be applying for a passport and requested information about sex tourism in Mexico.
On July 11, 2008, Soderman told an undercover agent that he wanted to go on a child sex tour in September and that he had engaged in oral sex with "multiple boys in different times."
The indictment also indicated that on Feb. 13, Soderman contacted an undercover agent and said he had received his tour application and that he planned to travel to Mexico in March.
On Feb. 17, Soderman used an Internet service to make a deposit of $50 for his sex tour.
Then on Feb. 20, undercover agents received an e-mail from Soderman indicating he would be flying to Yuma on a flight that was scheduled to arrive at 2:48 p.m.
Soderman was picked up at the Yuma International Airport by an undercover agent on March 9. Soderman paid the agent $600 to take him to a resort in San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., where he could spend two nights in Mexico with a "white male child" between the ages of 6 and 9 years of age.
He was then taken to the U.S. Port of Entry in San Luis, where he was arrested.
A conviction for travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine or both.
In determining an actual sentence, Martone will consult the U.S. sentencing guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.
Operation Predator is a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who prey on children.
For more information, visit www.cybertipline.com, a Web site through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. A Department of Justice initiative, 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, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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