For Immediate Release

November 19, 2008

PENNSYLVANIA WOMAN CHARGED WITH INTERSTATE TRAVEL FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENGAGING IN ILLICIT SEX WITH A MINOR

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on November 18, 2008, CATHARINE L. MILLER, age 33, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was charged in a Criminal Complaint in United States District Court in Benton with one count of Traveling in Interstate Commerce for Purpose of Engaging in Illicit Sexual Conduct with a Minor.

The Complaint alleges that MILLER traveled from Ohio to Wayne County, Illinois, on November 14, 2008, to meet a 14 year old female child with the intent to engage in sex acts with the child. MILLER was arrested by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department on November 17, 2008, at Johnsonville Park in Wayne County.

A defendant has the right to be charged by Indictment returned by a Grand Jury. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury .

MILLER was taken into federal custody on November 17, 2008, and appeared in United States District Court in Benton on November 18 . MILLER was ordered held without bond and was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal.

If convicted, MILLER faces a sentence of imprisonment of up to 30 years, a $250,000 fine, and a term of supervised release to follow incarceration of up to 5 years.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Southern Illinois Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, and the Wayne County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James M. Cutchin.