KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Buhler, Kan., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for traveling to Kansas City, Mo., to meet with an undercover law enforcement officer whom he believed was a teenage prostitute.

Bradley D. Voth, 55, was charged with one count of traveling across state lines with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. Today’s indictment replaces a July 20, 2018, criminal complaint that charged him with the same offense.

The investigation began in June 2018 when an undercover employee with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was monitoring public message threads on a website known to be used to host discussion forums and private messaging services for the purpose of allowing men and women to communicate regarding prostitution. 

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, the undercover employee posted a review for a prostitute in Hutchinson, Kan., and received a private message from Voth in response. Voth, says the affidavit, is a senior member of the website with over 500 posts detailing his experience across south-central Kansas and at Asian Massage Parlors. The undercover employee provided Voth with the phone number for an FBI agent who was acting in an undercover capacity as a 16-year-old female.

Voth allegedly contacted the undercover agent, who told him that she was staying in Kansas City with her cousin’s boyfriend and her 13-year-old sister. Voth asked for the 13-year-old’s phone number and for photos of both juveniles. Voth agreed to meet with her and the 13-year-old on July 19, 2018, for sexual activity in exchange for $140. When Voth arrived at a coffee shop in Kansas City, Mo., he was arrested.

The charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Moore. It was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services, Officer of Inspector General, the FBI and the Wichita, Kan., Police Department.

Project Safe Childhood

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 . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."