ALBANY, NEW YORK – Tristan Warner, age 48, of Newark, New Jersey, pled guilty today to attempted online enticement of a minor, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
As part of his guilty plea, Warner admitted that from about October 2020 to January 15, 2021, he exchanged electronic messages, via text and through a social networking platform, with an undercover officer he believed was the mother of an 11-year-old girl. In those messages, Warner expressed an interest in meeting the minor girl and in engaging in sexual acts with her. He also communicated by phone with someone he believed to be the girl’s mother. On January 15, 2021, Warner drove from Newark to a pre-determined location in Watervliet, New York, to meet and engage in sexual acts with the minor. He brought with him condoms, stuffed animals and two small vibrators/sexual toys to give to the girl as gifts. Warner was then encountered by law enforcement and arrested.
As a result of his conviction, Warner faces a mandatory term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a term of supervised release of between 5 years and life. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors. Sentencing is scheduled for March 1, 2022 before United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino.
This case was investigated by the FBI, New York State Police, Colonie Police Department, and Watervliet Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Belliss.
This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, 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.
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