LEWISTON — Patrick Gaffney-Kessell, 29, of Fayette has been sentenced to serve 6¼ years in federal prison for traveling out of state with the intent to have sex with a teenage girl.
According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Gaffney-Kessell was also sentenced to five years of federal supervision following his release. He pleaded guilty to the charge in February and was sentenced Friday.
According to court records, in October 2010, Gaffney-Kessell began an online relationship with a 13-year-old girl in Pennsylvania. He and the teen exchanged multiple text messages, Facebook chats, emails and telephone calls involving the exchange of sexually explicit text and images, according to the Department of Justice.
In January 2011, Gaffney-Kessell traveled from his home in Maine to Pennsylvania with the intent to having sex with the girl. When he got to Pennsylvania, according to the court, the teen refused to meet with him and Gaffney-Kessell’s activities were reported by the teen’s parents to police.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
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