News Releases

ICE investigation of on-line predator leads to 20-year prison sentence
Defendant planned to abuse two preschoolers

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - An Illinois man who pleaded guilty to charges of distribution and receipt of child pornography was sentenced in federal court yesterday to 20 years in prison, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Randy D. Winslow, 42, of Tilton, Ill., was using the screen name "lonelyfunman" when he began an on-line chat with someone who offered to make a 5-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy available to him for sexual abuse if he traveled to Alaska.

Winslow was, in fact, chatting with an undercover ICE agent. During one of their on-line conversations, he sent child pornography to the agent and admitted that he had more "kiddie porn" available to trade.

Winslow had made plans to relocate to Alaska, quitting his job at Caterpillar, Inc., where he worked on the assembly line.

"This sentence sends a strong signal to anyone who would even consider exploiting children in this manner," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of ICE's Office of Investigations that oversees Alaska. "ICE will continue to use its investigative resources to prevent the exploitation of the most vulnerable members of our society - our children."

Upon completion of Winslow's prison term, he is subject to ten years of supervised release.

The case of Winslow is part of Operation Predator, a comprehensive ICE initiative aimed at those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign national predators whose crimes make them deportable. Since the initiative was launched in July of 2003, there have been more than 11,000 individuals arrested nationwide.

Additional information about Operation Predator is available on the Web at www.ice.gov. ICE encourages the reporting of suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.