HARRISBURG — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.

HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Robert Alexander Kusma, age 36, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on February 9, 2022, to 156 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a 10-year term of supervised release, by United States District Court Judge Sylvia H. Rambo, for two child exploitation offenses, each involving a different minor victim.

According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, during the summer of 2016, Kusma used the internet to entice a 15-year-old female victim into allowing him to come to her home for the purpose of sexual contact.  Kusma ultimately traveled to the victim’s home in the York, PA area, where he undressed and fondled her prior to being interrupted in his crime and chased from the premises by a concerned friend. 

During the investigation of the above Online Enticement offense, it was discovered that Kusma had engaged in similar conduct a few years earlier.  Specifically, in March 2014, Kusma traveled from his residence in Scranton to the Poughkeepsie, NY area for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with a different 15-year-old female victim whom he had likewise met online.  Kusma picked up this victim from a location near her parents’ home, took her to a wooded area and had sexual intercourse with her, violating the federal statute which prohibits Interstate Travel to Engage in Unlawful Sexual Activity with Minors.

Judge Rambo ordered that Kusma comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Philadelphia Division and its state and local law enforcement partners in York County, Pennsylvania.  Assistant United States Attorney Jeffery St. John prosecuted the case.

This 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 the 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, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. 

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