Vermont Man Pleads Guilty to Luring Teens Online

Joseph Norko, 50, of Saint Johnsbury, Vermont, has pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted online enticement of a minor and one count of interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity. The charges stem from two separate stings in 2017, exposing a calculated effort to exploit children across state lines.

Court documents reveal Norko responded in July 2017 to an online ad posted by a Portsmouth Police officer posing as someone offering sex with a 12-year-old girl. Months later, in September 2017, he repeated the pattern—contacting a Lebanon Police officer pretending to be a 15-year-old girl. Messages escalated quickly, with Norko expressing explicit intent and arranging to meet in New Hampshire.

He made the trip from Vermont to Lebanon, New Hampshire, fully believing he would meet a teenager. Instead, he was met by federal and local law enforcement. The coordinated takedown was part of an ongoing crackdown on predators using the internet to target minors.

Acting U.S. Attorney John J. Farley, who prosecuted the case through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire, stated, “This case is yet another example of the dangers that lurk on the Internet.” Farley emphasized interagency cooperation, praising the officers who “led to the conviction of this Internet predator.”

Michael Shea, Acting Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, called online child exploitation “one of the most disturbing crimes we investigate.” He highlighted the success of joint task forces in dismantling predatory behavior before real harm occurs.

Norko’s sentencing is scheduled for June 1, 2018. The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, the Lebanon and Portsmouth Police Departments, and the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Georgiana Konesky is prosecuting the case. This case falls under Project Safe Childhood, a DOJ initiative launched in 2006 to combat online child sexual exploitation.

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