LITTLE ROCK — A New York man who told police he had sex in two states with a 15-year-old Nebraska girl he met online is being held in the Pulaski County jail, indicted on federal charges in a case that prompted an AMBER Alert.
Robert Olney, 29, of Schenectady, N.Y., faces charges of transporting a minor with the intention of engaging in sex and traveling across state lines to have sex with a minor, the U.S. attorney’s office in Omaha, Neb., said. He could face life in prison if convicted.
Court records don’t list an attorney for Olney. He has been held in the Pulaski County jail since July 15, Pulaski County sheriff’s office spokesman Lt.Carl Minden said.
Court documents say Olney drove from Alabama to Nebraska to pick up the 15-year-old girl. They left Ainsworth, Neb., on July 14 and surrendered the next day to police in Little Rock, court documents say.
Little Rock police spokesman Sgt. Cassandra Davis said Olney turned himself in to officers at the River Market kiosk. The officers notified the FBI, who took custody of him, she said.
Jan Sharp in the Omaha U.S. attorney’s office said Olney would soon be taken back to Nebraska.
Olney also faces charges in Brown County, Neb., of kidnapping and child enticement. Prosecutors said they haven’t decided yet whether to pursue both cases.
Olney told police, according to an affidavit, that he’d met the girl online and later mailed her a cell phone, and that the two had sex in motels in or near Valentine, Neb., and Kansas City, Mo., during their trip.
Brown County Attorney David Streich said Olney has a relative in Alabama and may have planned to live there with the girl.
Information for this report was contributed by Chad Day of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and by the Associated Press.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 07/23/2010