By UNITED STATES ATTORNEY-OMAHA
OMAHA, Neb.-Acting United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Brendan J. Joray, age 24, of Bellevue, was sentenced July 22 by the Honorable Robert F. Rossiter, United States District Judge, to 36 months imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Joray pled guilty in April 2022 to Interstate Travel to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct and agreed to be discharged from the Air Force.
In about November 2020, Joray “met” a minor online. Joray was an Airman at Offutt Air Force Base at the time, and the minor resided in New York. The pair spoke, sent images and texted daily over several platforms. Soon after meeting, they had regular video or audio “sex calls”, during which each engaged in sexual conduct. In February 2021, Joray agreed to transport the minor to Nebraska, where the minor would share a bedroom with Joray. On or about February 16, 2021, Joray picked the minor up outside the minor’s home at about 1 am and drove toward Nebraska. While attempting to locate Joray and the minor, law enforcement officers spoke with Joray’s roommate in Nebraska. The roommate texted Joray, and Joray called police shortly thereafter in Illinois and waited for police to arrive. At the time of these events, Joray was 23 years of age. The minor told police that she was 16 years old, but in fact, she was 15.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the United States 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Papillion Police Department.
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