Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Man Sentenced for Enslaving Girl He Met Online

Man gets 10 years for having sex with teen he treated as slave, Seattle P-I, 3/21/07.

With all the talk about federal prosecutors, it's good to be reminded of some work that they do. Here's a case from the Western District of Washington -- William Diehl, a 44-year-old man from Aberdeen, was sentenced in district court in Tacoma. His crime crossed state lines in a big way: he met a teenage girl over the Internet, then drove to Maryland to pick her up, and drove her back to Washington State, calling her by a "slave name" and having her call him "master." Diehl pleaded guilty to traveling to have sex with a minor.

The information presented in the case was so alarming that Judge Ronald Leighton told Diehl that he was someone to be feared.

"You are a parent's worst nightmare," the judge said.

Leighton approved the prison sentence, telling Diehl that "you cannot be allowed to interact with vulnerable people in the misguided belief that (they) were presented for your pleasure."
The U.S. Attorney's Office press release (3/20/07) is here.

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