Thomas O’Brien, Attempted Child Sex Trafficking, Missouri 2013

Kansas City, Missouri – A Rhode Island man has pleaded guilty to attempting to sex traffic a child in Kansas City, Missouri. Thomas O’Brien, 54, of Rhode Island, pleaded guilty today to the charge contained in a Dec. 11, 2013, federal indictment in federal court.

O’Brien admitted to being involved in the sex trafficking of a victim who was under the age of 18 from June 15, 2005, to Aug. 4, 2007. He also admitted to compensating two child victims for activities involving numerous sexually explicit webcam sessions.

During a trip to Kansas City in the summer of 2007, O’Brien spent more than $10,000 on various gifts and entertainment for the two child victims and a co-defendant. He admitted to engaging in sexual activity with one of the child victims during this trip. Between 2005 and 2008, O’Brien spent approximately $200,000 in gifts and various cash payments to the two child victims.

O’Brien also assisted a co-defendant in rendering sexually explicit high-definition videos into a more Internet-friendly format. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Daly.

The investigation was led by the FBI and the Human Trafficking Rescue Project. Additional assistance was provided by the Western Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Clay County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Platte County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Newport, R.I., Police Department, the Rhode Island State Police, the Winnipeg, Manitoba Police Service in Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Crown’s Attorney’s Office in Canada, and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre in the United Kingdom.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the parties have recommended that O’Brien’s sentence for this offense will run concurrently to a six-year sentence that he is currently serving for a separate federal conviction in the District of Rhode Island.

O’Brien’s guilty plea is a reminder that human trafficking is a serious crime that can have devastating consequences for its victims. Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors in Missouri and across the country are working tirelessly to combat this crime and bring perpetrators to justice.

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