A Kansas man, Daniel Paul Prekopa, 46, from Wichita, has been sentenced to a total of 87 months in prison following guilty pleas in two separate cases related to crimes involving minors.
Court documents reveal that Prekopa admitted guilt to one count of attempted travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. In a different case, he also pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse materials.
The investigation began in September 2023 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted the Wichita Police Department about a cybertip regarding child sexual abuse materials uploaded to a Dropbox account. The account was confirmed to belong to Prekopa and contained images depicting children under 12 engaged in sexual activities.
In another investigation during the same month, the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force conducted undercover chat sessions on platforms used by adults seeking minors for sexual purposes. An agent posing as a minor received messages from Prekopa, who sent provocative photos and made explicit comments. He acknowledged the risk of his actions by stating, “I could get in major trouble since you're under 16. But idc either” and “And you have damn cops online trying to catfish people to get them in trouble.”
Prekopa was arrested by FBI agents after traveling from Kansas City, Missouri, to Overland Park, Kansas, intending to engage in illicit sexual conduct with someone he believed was under 18.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), and the Wichita Police Department were involved in investigating these cases. Assistant U.S. Attorney Faiza Alhambra prosecuted both cases.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse. The program coordinates federal, state, and local resources for locating and prosecuting offenders exploiting children online while identifying and rescuing victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
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