Pocola man sentenced for sexual contact

Pocola man sentenced for sexual contact

MUSKOGEE – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Patrick Timothy Kelley, 46, of Pocola was sentenced to 270 months in prison for one count of Abusive Sexual Contact in Indian Country.

The charges arose from investigations by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the District 16 Drug and Violent Crime Task Force in Le Flore County.

On October 10, 2023, Kelley pleaded guilty to the charge.  According to investigators, during the summer of 2021, Kelley sexually abused a minor under the age of 12.  As part of the plea, Kelley also admitted to creating and transporting sexually explicit depictions of two minors between 2015 and 2021.  The crimes occurred in Le Flore County, within the boundaries of the Choctaw Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

“Homeland Security Investigations will never relent in our pursuit to hold those accountable who prey on innocent children,” said Robert Melton, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the HSI Dallas – Oklahoma Division.  “We are proud of the collaboration with our partners of the Tornado Alley Child Exploitation and Trafficking Taskforce and U.S. Attorney’s Office to ensure justice was served.”

“This sentence should serve as another clear warning to those who prey on children:  we will leverage all available resources to identify, apprehend, and prosecute you,” said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson.  “I am grateful to our law enforcement partners at Homeland Security Investigations and District 16 Drug and Violent Crime Task Force for their work in bringing this defendant to justice.”

Ronald A. White, Chief Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing.  Kelley will remain in custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Bove represented the United States at sentencing.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood and internet safety, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources”.

We encourage anyone who suspects or has information regarding child sexual exploitation, trafficking of minors, sextortion, child pornography, or any other means of child exploitation to immediately contact law enforcement.  You can file a report on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) website at www.cybertipline.com.  If you prefer to speak to someone directly, you can contact NCMEC’s Call Center at 1-800-843-5678, the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), or HSI at 1-877-4-HSI TIP (1-877-447-4847).

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