Federal jury convicts Broome County man of enticing 13-year-old girl to have sex
A Broome County man faces at least a decade in prison after a federal jury convicted him of driving from his home in Harpursville to Bliss, N.Y. in October 2020 with the intention of having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
David Lettieri, 36, was convicted this week of enticement of a minor, a felony charge that carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York, which prosecuted the case.
Sentencing will be before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo at a later date.
A federal grand jury indicted Lettieri on Feb. 10, 2021 following an investigation by the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office and the FBI. The probe began after the parent of the 13-year-old alerted law enforcement that his daughter met a 33-year-old man who intended to have sex with her.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said the investigation involved a search of the victim's cellphone and Lettieri's Facebook account and phone number.
The girl's parent told a Wyoming County Sheriff's Office investigator the encounter between the 13-year-old girl and Lettieri happened Oct. 10 at a park near her home, but no sexual contact took place.
After gaining the parent's permission, law enforcement officials searched the victim's phone and determined the victim blocked both a Facebook account and a phone number that belonged to Lettieri.
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During a search of Lettieri's Facebook account, investigators recovered sexual conversations between Lettieri, the victim and the victim's sister. Prosecutors said the victim's age was revealed during the conversation.
The victim told investigators her online conversations with Lettieri spanned three to four weeks before he came to meet her. During those conversations, Lettieri allegedly asked the girl to send sexual photos of herself.
Federal prosecutors said Lettieri waived his Miranda rights and agreed to speak with FBI agents following his arrest on Nov. 4, 2020. Federal officials said Lettieri admitted to knowing the victim, her age, to communicating about having sex and traveling to Bliss to meet her.
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However, according to law enforcement officials, Lettieri insisted to investigators that he was role-playing and wanted to meet the victim only to “talk some sense into her.” Federal agents said Lettieri likened his actions to being a “Good Samaritan.”
Assistant U.S. attorneys Paul E. Bonanno and Maeve E. Huggins prosecuted the case.
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This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Federal jury convicts Broome County man enticing 13-year-old for sex
