AF NCO arrested for enticement of a minor for sex

  • Published
  • By AFOSI Public Affairs
QUANTICO, Va. --  An Airman assigned to Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., has been arrested and charged by criminal complaint for enticement of a minor for sex.

A criminal complaint is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III made the announcement Nov. 2. 

According to the complaint, between Oct. 23-28, 2105, Staff Sgt. Thomas Allen Vaughn, 33, communicated via email and text message with an individual he believed was a 14-year-old female "child," but in reality was an undercover law enforcement officer. 

During the communications, Vaughn solicited "naughty" pictures from the "child," informed the "child" that his hobbies included kissing, foreplay, oral, teasing and sex, and told the child about his genitalia. Subsequently, Vaughn made plans to meet the "child" at an agreed upon location, where he was arrested.

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations investigated the case which will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda C. Kaiser.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 

Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. 

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

(Editor's Note: The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs contributed to this story.)