Leesburg Man Sentenced to 30 Years for Child Enticement, Kidnapping, and Threats

A Leesburg man has been sentenced to 30 years and 5 months in federal prison for attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, soliciting an undercover federal agent to commit kidnapping, and transmitting interstate commerce threats to kidnap and injure a former co-worker.

U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza handed down the sentence to Dane Gillis, 59, who was found guilty by a jury on May 12, 2016. The court also ordered Gillis to forfeit the electronic devices that he used to commit the offenses.

According to evidence presented at trial, Gillis posted an ad on Craigslist in 2015 stating, “Looking for a guy or group who r into extremely taboo scenes. Hi risk and reward for the right sadistic Pervert.” An undercover federal agent responded to the ad, posing as the father of an 11-year-old daughter, and Gillis communicated with the agent through email and text for two weeks.

During these communications, Gillis made arrangements to have sex with the child and solicited the agent to help him kidnap and rape a former co-worker. On September 16, 2015, Gillis drove over an hour from his home to meet with the “father and child” and was arrested. Forensic analyses of Gillis’s smartphone and computer revealed that he had conducted Internet searches for kidnapping, rape, and prepubescent child pornography.

Gillis had also saved scores of pictures of the intended kidnapping victim on his computer. Through additional investigation, agents learned that Gillis had been soliciting individuals to help him kidnap and rape the victim for nearly a year.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Karen L. Gable and Emily C.L. Chang. It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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