URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — A Champaign man will spend eight years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted enticement of a minor.
Ozgur Kurt, 46, was sentenced on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. Court documents showed that in 2020, Kurt engaged in sexually-graphic online conversations with someone he believed was a 15-year-old minor. On Sept. 1, 2020, he arrived at a Champaign restaurant to pick up this supposed minor for sexual contact, but was arrested by FBI agents.
Kurt was indicted on a single charge he pleaded guilty to earlier this year. He has been in custody ever since his arrest.
In addition to the jail time, Kurt will spend five years on parole after his release and was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine by the judge.
Kurt’s arrest and prosecution came as part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative involves authorities from both federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, arrest and prosecute offenders and identify and rescue victims.