A guy from Anchorage was given a 10-year prison sentence on Tuesday for trying to persuade a juvenile to have an illicit sexual relationship. Court filings state that Peter Joseph Hickel Jr., 34, attempted to meet and converse with someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl via social media in order to have sex with her. After inviting the person to communicate with him on the encrypted messaging app Kik, Hickel started requesting to meet up with the alleged minor a short while later.
When Hickel showed up for the meeting he had set up with the alleged youngster, he was taken into custody. In May 2024, he entered a guilty plea to a single charge of attempting to coerce and entice a minor. Under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, he was sentenced to ten years in federal prison, fifteen years of supervised release, and a $5,000 special assessment. The court stressed in delivering the 10-year term that vulnerable youngsters should be protected online rather than taken advantage of.
By trying to sexually exploit a youngster online, Mr. Hickel violated social standards and legal requirements, according to U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker of the District of Alaska. “To aggressively investigate and prosecute online child sexual exploitation and to apprehend online predators before they can do further harm, our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners.” “The defendant’s heinous and blatant acts aimed to take advantage of and harm Alaskan children, solely for his personal satisfaction,” stated FBI Anchorage Field Office Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day. “The FBI and APD will continue to work aggressively to protect our community’s children from individuals such as Peter Hickel through the use of a task force approach.”
As a component of the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, the Anchorage Police Department and the FBI looked into this case. Jennifer Ivers, an assistant U.S. attorney, handled the case prosecution.
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