ALBANY, NEW YORK - Michael E. Robbins, II, age 27, of Schenectady, New York, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.
Robbins previously pled guilty to the offense on Feb. 13, 2023, the day his trial was scheduled to begin. Robbins admitted that between February and March 2021, he exchanged sexually explicit messages online with an undercover officer posing as a 12-year old girl, in an attempt to entice the child into engaging in sexual acts with him. Robbins admitted that he initiated the conversations with the minor after locating her in an online chat group for teens in the 518 area code. Robbins further admitted that he arranged to meet the minor on March 18, 2021 at a bowling alley in Latham, New York, and he traveled to the bowling alley on that date with the intent to engage in sexual acts with the 12-year-old child. Robbins was arrested by law enforcement shortly after arriving at the location.
Robbins will be required to register as a sex offender and will serve a 15-year term of post-release supervision when he is released from prison.
This case was investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Colonie Police Department and New York State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Benjamin S. Clark and Michael D. Gadarian prosecuted this 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys