NEWARK, N.J. – A Somerset County, New Jersey, man has been sentenced to 108 months in prison for traveling to the Philippines to engage in sex with a minor, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
James A. Diggs, 45, of Somerville, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty by videoconference before Chief U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson to an information charging him with foreign travel to engage in criminal sexual activity.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In October 2018, Diggs traveled to the Philippines to meet and engage in sexual activity with Minor Victim-1 in exchange for money and gifts, knowing the victim was a minor.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Wolfson sentenced Diggs to five years of supervised release and ordered him to register as a sex offender.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, Newark Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason J. Molina, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked agents of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, John F. Kennedy International Airport, for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Astorga of the Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark.
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