O‘ahu Man Sentenced to 10 Years Prison for Attempts to Sexually Entice Teen Girl

A Kapolei man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempting to entice who he believed was a 13-year-old girl for sex.

Zachariah Fredrickson, 32, appeared before US District Judge Helen Gillmor on Thursday. Following his time in prison, Gillmor will be on supervised release for 10 years. He will also pay a $5,000 special assessment pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.

US Attorney Kenji M. Price for the District of Hawaii stated that according to court documents and information presented in court, on March 25, 2019, Fredrickson engaged in a series of online chats with an undercover agent posing as a 13-year-old girl. During their conversations, Fredrickson arranged to meet the girl in person with the intent to engage in sexual activity, and agreed to pay $100 per hour for sex with the girl. Fredrickson then traveled to an agreed-upon location, and was later arrested.

“My office will continue to protect children in our communities from those who lurk in the corners of cyberspace seeking opportunities to exploit them,” Price said. “These kinds of prosecutions put child sex predators on notice that the Department of Justice will not sit by idly by while they try to take advantage of children. The federal law enforcement community and its partners will proactively bring these perpetrators to justice.”

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Hawai‘i Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), and it was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Morgan Early.

“In today’s world the internet allows our children to connect globally. Unfortunately many parents, do not know who their children are connecting with online” stated Special Agent in Charge Eli S. Miranda. “Predators like Fredrickson use technology to sexually exploit our children. But the FBI remains vigilant and committed to catching these criminals and ensuring that justice is served

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by US Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.