Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Transporting a Minor with the Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - John Oathout, age 54, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on Friday to 25 years in prison for transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

As part of his guilty plea, Oathout admitted that after a romantic relationship ended with the victim's mother, the victim's mother permitted the defendant to take her daughter on overnight trips to Virginia and New York. During the week of Thanksgiving 2021, the defendant arranged to pick up the 5-year-old child from her home in Delaware and transport her to a hotel in Kingston, New York, where he subjected the child to sexual contact.

In addition to sentencing Oathout to serve 25 years in prison, Chief United States District Judge Brenda K. Sannes also imposed a 20-year term of supervised release, which Oathout will begin serving after he is released from prison, at which time Oathout will also be required to register as a sex offender.

The FBI's Albany Division Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated this case. The Task Force includes members of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Assistant United States Attorney Carling Dunham prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locates, 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.