Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Scott Westervelt, age 46, of Bennington, Vermont, was sentenced today to 70 months in prison for traveling from Vermont to Lake George in 2022 to engage in sexual conduct with a 12-year-old. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.
As part of his prior guilty plea, Westervelt admitted that between January and June 2022, he exchanged sexually explicit messages online with someone posing as a man who was sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy. Over the course of those exchanges, Westervelt expressed his desire to engage in illicit sexual conduct with the 12-year-old, and ultimately Westervelt arranged to meet the man and the boy in Lake George for that purpose. On June 14, 2022, Westervelt left his residence in Bennington and drove to a prearranged meet-up location in Lake George, where he was arrested.
Chief United States District Judge Brenda K. Sannes also sentenced Westervelt to serve 10 years of supervised release to begin after Westervelt is released from prison. He was also ordered to forfeit the phone he used to commit the crime. Westervelt will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
The FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force investigated the case. The FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force includes members of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Colonie Police Department and New York State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin S. Clark prosecuted the case 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.