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Ex-Federal Worker Sentenced For Traveling With Minor

BALTIMORE (AP) — A former career employee with the U.S. Department of Justice has been sentenced to seven years in prison for interstate travel with intent to engage in a sex act with a minor.

Fifty-five-year-old James Cicala of Columbia was also ordered to register as a sex offender at sentencing Thursday in federal court in Baltimore.

According to his plea agreement, Cicala worked in information technology for the Justice Department and owned a beach house on Fenwick Island, Delaware. Prosecutors say Cicala put ads online, seeking girls to engage in "daddy-daughter" relationships.

Authorities say an undercover law enforcer responded to Cicala's ad, claiming to be a 15-year-old. Prosecutors say Cicala communicated with the officer for several weeks, almost always using Cicala's DOJ-issued phone or work computer, sometimes during work hours.

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