KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States
Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that four men –
including an active duty Naval recruiter, an insurance manager at a
Plaza-area office, an out-of-state car dealership$B!G(Js finance manager
and a truck driver – were indicted by a federal grand jury today, in four
separate cases, on charges related to the sex trafficking of children.

            Today$B!G(Js indictments are the result of Operation Guardian
Angel, a unique undercover law enforcement investigation targeting the
demand for child prostitutes in the Kansas
 City area. As a result of this investigation, a total of seven defendants
have been charged within the past month in the nation$B!G(Js first-ever
federal prosecution of the alleged customers of child prostitution under
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

            $B!H(JOperation Guardian Angel was launched in response to the
black market that exists in our community for child prostitution,$B!I(J
said Whitworth. $B!H(JThe U.S. Attorney$B!G(Js Office and our law
enforcement partners are committed to combating child sex trafficking by
investigating and prosecuting the customers who create the demand for
child prostitutes. These sexual predators can come from every walk of life
and any socio-economic group.$B!I(J

            Operation Guardian Angel was conducted by the Human
Trafficking Rescue Project, a joint task force from the Independence
Police Department, the FBI, ICE, and the Kansas City, Mo., Police
Department. During the undercover operation, task force officers placed
Internet ads for underage prostitutes. According to court documents, the
ads clearly stated that the prostitutes were $B!H(Jlittle girls$B!I(J and
were $B!H(Jyoung.$B!I(J Those who responded to the ads were given
directions to an undercover location that was outfitted with audio and
video recording equipment. When they arrived at the undercover residence
and paid cash for a child prostitute, they were arrested by task force
officers.

            This20undercover operation began last Thursday and continued
through Saturday. This marks the second time this year that an undercover
operation was conducted in the Kansas City area as part of Operation
Guardian Angel.

            Last month, three Kansas men were indicted as a result of
Operation Guardian Angel, marking the first time that the U.S. Department
of Justice has utilized the Trafficking Victims Protection Act to
prosecute customers who allegedly attempt to pay for sex with children.
While the pimps who offer to sell children to others for prostitution have
been prosecuted in the Western District and elsewhere, these indictments
are the first in the nation to charge a $B!H(JJohn$B!I(J with attempting
to pay for sex with a child.

            Shane Allan Childers, 32, of Olathe, Kan., Christopher M.
Cockrell, 33, of Armory, Miss., Steven C. Albers, 40, of Kansas City, Mo.,
and Richard J. Oflyng, 31, of Ottawa, Kan., were each charged with the
attempted commercial sex trafficking of a child and with using the
Internet and telephone to attempt to induce a child to engage in
prostitution in a series of indictments returned this afternoon by a
federal grand jury in Kansas City.

            Childers, an active duty naval recruiter, and Cockrell, the
finance manager for an Armory automotive dealership, were each also
charged with traveling across state lines for the purpose of engaging in
illici
t sexual conduct, that is, a commercial sex act with a person under 18
years of age.

            Albers is an insurance manager at a Plaza office. Oflyng is a
truck driver who drove his tractor-trailer to the undercover residence.

            Today$B!G(Js indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint
that was filed against Childers on Friday, March 6, 2009. According to an
affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, on that day
Childers paid $60 to have sex with an 11-year-old girl. He paid an extra
$20 to have intercourse without using a condom. The affidavit alleges that
Childers was wearing his Navy uniform, but had taken off his uniform shirt
and was wearing a white undershirt when he knocked on the door of the
undercover residence. Childers allegedly responded to the online ad from
the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Lenexa, Kan., where he works, and
allegedly used his government-owned computer, Navy e-mail address and
government cellular phone to arrange the transaction.

            Today$B!G(Js indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint
that was filed against Cockrell on Monday, March 9, 2009. According to an
affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Cockrell
paid $60 to have sex with a 15-year-old girl on Saturday, March 7, 2009.
He paid an extra $20 in order to have intercourse without using a condom
and tipped the pimp $20.

             A forfeiture allegation contained in Childers$B!G(J indictment
would require him to forfeit to the government a 2002 Chrysler Sebring,
which was used to commit the alleged offenses. A forfeiture allegation
contained in Albers$B!G(J indictment would require him to forfeit to the
government a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta, which was used to commit the alleged
offenses. A forfeiture allegation contained in Oflyng$B!G(Js indictment
would require him to forfeit to the government a laptop computer, which
was used to commit the alleged offenses.

            Under federal statutes, a conviction for the commercial sex
trafficking of a child would result in a mandatory minimum sentence of 15
years in federal prison without parole, up to life in federal prison
without parole, for Childers, Albers and Oflyng. Due to the difference in
ages between the intended victims, a conviction for the commercial sex
trafficking of a child would result in a mandatory minimum sentence of 10
years in federal prison without parole, up to life in federal prison
without parole, for Cockrell.

            Whitworth cautioned that the charges contained in these
indictments are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence
supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose
duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

            These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S
.. Attorney Cynthia L. Cordes. They were investigated by the Independence,
Mo., Police Department, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement in conjunction with the Human Trafficking Rescue Project.

            Additional information about federal efforts to combat child
sex trafficking can be found online at the U.S. Department of Justice Web
site at:

http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/ceos/trafficking.html

http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/ceos/prostitution_fedefforts.html