A Monroe County man has been sentenced for attempted online enticement of a minor.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 50-year-old Kenneth Lesser of East Stroudsburg has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release.
Lesser was indicted in September 2023 for attempted online enticement and sexual exploitation of children after attempting to meet a fictitious minor, through contact with an undercover agent posing as her mother, in Stroudsburg. Lesser also sent an explicit photo to the agent and solicited an explicit picture of the fictitious 13-year-old.
He pleaded guilty on Sept. 25 to attempted online enticement as part of a plea agreement. The count carries a maximum sentence of life in prison to a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, a maximum $250,000 fine and a maximum supervised release term of life to a minimum of five years.
Lesser’s 10-year sentence, imposed Dec. 17 in federal court, is what his attorney, William Thompson, requested in his sentencing memo.
In the sentencing memorandum for the prosecution, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tatum Wilson described the nature and circumstances of Lesser’s offense as “deeply troubling” as the crime he plead guilty to “inherently involves violence against children.”
“Although the defense may argue that there was no ‘real’ victim in this case, in the defendant’s mind there was,” wrote Wilson. “It was his attraction to a 13-year-old child that was the impetus for his offense conduct and he pursued his deviant interest by taking to the Internet to actively conspire with a purported foster parent trafficking her child for sex.”
Wilson noted Lesser’s inappropriate contact with the uncover officer, as well as his “conscious decision to travel to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania for the sole purpose of engaging in illegal sexual conduct with whom he believed was a 13-year-old.” Wilson argued that Lesser’s actions cannot be classified as a “solitary lapse in judgement,” but more so as “the culmination of a series of conscious choices made by the defendant; choices that were fueled by his prurient interests and his willingness to act upon those interests.”
One of his children stated during an interview for his presentence report that their mother said that Lesser used to host sex parties at his home, where he “and his then-paramour would film themselves engaging in sexual activity with others.” The sentencing memo also states that on at least one occasion, this child and a sibling “were present when such a party took place.”
Thompson argued that “imposing unnecessary harsh sentences” does not result in respect for the law. He also wrote that Lesser “regularly attends Bible study and (Alcoholics Anonymous) classes whenever offered at the Lackawanna County Prison,” and that Lesser “considers the ability to detox and clear his head as a gift from God.” Thompson asserted that Lesser “accepts full responsibility for his conduct.”
Both Wilson and Thompson acknowledged that Lesser did not have a troubled childhood but had mental health and substance abuse issues later in life.
The Philadelphia Division of Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case, and U.S. District Court Judge Julia Munley presided over the case.
Max Augugliaro is the public safety and government watchdog reporter at the Pocono Record. Reach him at MAugugliaro@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: East Stroudsburg man sentenced for seeking sex from fake 13-year-old