TRENTON
-- Attorney General Peter C. Harvey announced
that a Burlington County man has been
sentenced to seven years incarceration
after pleading guilty to charges of using
the Internet to arrange a sexual encounter
with an adult female and her 14 year-old
daughter. The undercover Internet investigation
was conducted by the Division
of Criminal Justice - Computer Analysis
& Technology Unit (CATU).
According to Vaughn L. McKoy, Director,
Division of Criminal Justice, Preston
Wayne Kell, 48, Pearl Street, Mount Holly,
Burlington County, was sentenced today
by Burlington County Superior Court Judge
Marvin Schlosser to seven years in the
New Jersey Adult Diagnostic and Treatment
Center at Avenel and to a concurrent four-year
term after pleading guilty to attempted
sexual assault and luring/enticing a child.
Kell pleaded guilty on Oct. 19, 2004.
Director McKoy noted that Kell was charged
via a State Grand Jury indictment returned
on Nov. 6, 2003. The indictment alleged
that over a three month period from May
6 to Aug. 7, 2003, Kell engaged in on-line
conversations with an undercover state
investigator assigned to the Division
of Criminal Justice - Computer Analysis
& Technology Unit. The indictment
charged that while on-line, Kell openly
advertised that he was seeking a mother
who would have sex with him and then allow
him to have sex with a juvenile daughter.
The undercover state investigator, posing
as an adult female with a 14 year-old
daughter, arranged to meet Kell in a Mercer
County, New Jersey, park for the purpose
of having sexual relations. On Aug. 7,
2003, Kell arrived at the meeting location
expecting to have sex with the mother
and daughter and was arrested by undercover
state investigators. At the time of the
arrest, state investigators recovered
numerous sexual devices and toys. Additionally,
state investigators obtained a court authorized
search warrant and seized Kell’s
computer and related electronic equipment.
The initial investigation was forwarded
to the Division of Criminal Justice -
Computer Analysis & Technology Unit,
by The National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children. The Center had received
complaints regarding Kell’s alleged
activities and forwarded the complaints
to the New Jersey Division of Criminal
Justice. The investigation was coordinated
by Supervising State Investigator Wendy
Boles and State Investigator Rosario Zito
assigned to the Division of Criminal Justice
- Computer Analysis & Technology Unit.
Deputy Attorney General Kenneth Sharp
prosecuted the case.
Criminal Justice Director McKoy noted
that the Division of Criminal Justice
- Computer Analysis & Technology Unit
employs a team of specially-trained state
investigators who go on-line to track,
investigate, arrest and prosecute individuals
who use technology and computer systems
to commit criminal acts in New Jersey.
As part of their continuing investigative
responsibilities, undercover state investigators
patrol various chat rooms where potential
sexual predators seek to engage juveniles
in conversation and to ultimately lure
a targeted juvenile to a sexual encounter.