A Rhode Island man who drove from North Carolina to Maine in 2014 to have sex with a 14-year-old girl was sentenced Tuesday to 20 months in prison on a federal charge of traveling interstate to have sex with a minor.
William McNeill, 23, of Cumberland, Rhode Island, was also sentenced by Judge George Z. Singal in U.S. District Court in Portland to serve five years of supervised release following completion of his federal prison term, have restricted access to minors, computers and the internet while on probation and register as a sex offender.
McNeill was living in North Carolina in the fall of 2014 when he met the girl through an online dating website, according to a prosecution document filed with the court.
The girl, who lives in Cumberland County, initially “presented herself to the defendant as being older than 14 years old,” but she eventually told McNeill her actual age, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Conley wrote in the prosecution document.
McNeill communicated with the girl by computer and cellphone, making plans for a sexual encounter after she revealed her actual age. On Oct. 18, 2014, McNeill drove from North Carolina to a pre-arranged meeting place in Maine, where the girl got into his car and they had sex, Conley wrote.
McNeill was arrested on a warrant in Massachusetts after being indicted by a federal grand jury in Maine. He was initially allowed to remain free after his initial court appearance, but he was taken into federal custody after pleading guilty to the charge on March 28.
McNeill admitted to the crime during an interview on Jan. 9, 2015, with agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, according to court records.
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