Sex Tourism—Joint Operation

A resident of New Jersey, Anthony Mark Bianchi, has been indicted on sex tourism charges.^[1] In addition, his alleged translator, Ion Gusin, has been arrested by Moldovan police.^[2] There is no report whether Mr. Gusin’s extradition will be requested. Mr. Bianchi is charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, two counts of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, two counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, and one count of using a facility in foreign commerce (a telephone) to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.^[3]

According to ICE, Mr. Bianchi allegedly conspired to travel from Philadelphia International Airport to Cuba, the Republic of Moldova, and Romania to engage in illicit sexual conduct with males younger than 16 years of age.

As a testament to the reach of the United States, the transnational investigation involved agents from the Philadelphia ICE office, the ICE Attache in Austria, the ICE Cyber Crimes Center in Virginia, the US Diplomatic Security Service, the DOJ, the US Postal Inspection Service, the Romanian Organized Crime Police, the Romanian Prosecutor’s Office, Moldovan Police assigned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Polish Border Police.^[4]

One of the many interesting aspects of this case is that Mr. Bianchi, a New Jersey resident, was indicted out of Philadelphia.^[5] Under Rule 18 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, “the government must prosecute an offense in a district where the offense was committed.” Therefore, since the overarching charge of the indictment is a conspiracy “to travel in foreign commerce … to engage in illicit sexual conduct, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(c),”^[6] part of the offense was conducted at the Philadelphia airport.

As we have mentioned before, the United States is ramping up its prosecutions of sex tourism and human trafficking.

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[1] ICE, Two Arrested After Joint Child Sex Tourism Investigation by the United States, Moldova, and Romania, Jan. 12, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] See, United States v. Bianchi, Indictment, (E.D. Pa. 2005).
[6] Id. at 2.