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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, January 14, 2014 INCIDENTS Grand Canyon NP Man Pleads Guilty To Attempted Sexual Exploitation Of Minor On March 9, 2011, a special agent with the Investigative Services Branch received a HYPERLINK "http://www.missingkids.com/cybertipline/" Cyber Tipline report from a Phoenix Police Department detective. The tip was generated by the HYPERLINK "http://www.missingkids.com/home" National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and alleged sexually explicit internet communications between an adult Grand Canyon resident and an underage male. The original report was taken by the Navy Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) before being transferred to ISB. ISB agents launched an investigation into the communications, which ultimately lead to a confession by the suspect, who managed Phantom Ranch for Xanterra, the park's concessioner. The man admitted to having inappropriate online sexual communications in which he offered to perform sexual acts with the minor. The online communications were sent from both Phantom Ranch and the South Rim of Grand Canyon. The man was indicted on two felony counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation by a grand jury in Coconino County, Arizona, and an arrest warrant was issued. Grand Canyon rangers, working with an ISB agent, arrested the suspect on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. While being held in the park's booking facility, he attempted to commit suicide and was transported to Flagstaff Medical Center by park ambulance. The man was subsequently released from the hospital and posted a $92,000 bail with Coconino County. He underwent a psychosexual evaluation which indicated that he tried to deceive test facilitators on both his attraction to underage males and the existence of other victims. On December 18th, the man pled guilty to the two felony charges. His sentencing hearing will be on January 28th. He will receive lifetime supervised probation, lifetime sex offender registration status, and up to three years and nine months in prison. ISB would like to thank NCIS, the Phoenix Police Department, NCMEC, and the South Rim and Canyon Districts of Grand Canyon National Park for their assistance in this successful prosecution. [Investigative Services Branch] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's InsideNPS. To see the full text, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the Morning Report web page ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/): Northeast Region - A team of interns from the Designing the Parks program, which introduces high school and college students to the Service's design and planning professions, spent last summer reimagining Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor Islands NP. Fort Scott NHS - Despite subfreezing temperatures, hundreds of visitors enjoyed the ambiance of a candlelit frontier fort last month while learning more about the many faces of courage displayed by soldier and civilian during the pivotal Civil War year of 1863. Colonial NHP - Gregory (Skip) Brooks, the park's deputy superintendent and a past NPS Type 1 IMT incident commander, retired from the National Park Service in December after 41 years of service. Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Division - Karen Anderson, whose NPS career spanned 28 years, retired from Midwest Region's Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program on January 9th. National Capital Region - Dick Powers, who retired in 2003 as associate regional director for administration in National Capital Region, passed away on December 28th. * * * * The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov). --- ### --- |