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

BURLINGTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that on October 26, 2026, Thomas Ndissi, 39, of Chicopee, Massachusetts was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Christina Reiss to a term of 90 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a 5-year term of supervised release. Ndissi previously pleaded guilty to traveling interstate to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

According to court records, in late September 2025, Ndissi met via a messaging platform who he believed was a thirteen-year-old girl from Vermont. The girl was, in fact, an undercover law enforcement officer. Over the next six weeks, Ndissi confirmed the girl’s purported age, and sent the undercover a series of explicit messages and videos. In the messages, Ndissi laid out a detailed plan to have sexual intercourse with the purported child and for him to avoid the consequences of doing so. On November 2, 2025, Ndissi sent the undercover several messages in which he confirmed that he had booked a hotel room in Vermont for the following evening for them to engage in sexual intercourse. On November 3, 2025, Ndissi traveled by bus from Springfield, Massachusetts to White River Junction, Vermont to carry out his plan. Law enforcement stopped Ndissi as he was about to enter the hotel room. In Ndissi’s bag was a hat similar to one he had promised to give the girl in exchange for engaging in sexual intercourse with him. Ndissi admitted to law enforcement that he had been messaging with an individual he believed to be a thirteen-year-old girl.

First Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt commended the collaborative investigatory efforts of Hartford Police Department, Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and Homeland Security Investigations.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Flynn. Ndissi was represented by Federal Public Defender Alejandro Fernandez.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and 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 Justice.gov/PSC.