January 19, 2010 - A federal grand jury has returned an indictment against a 27-year-old Wisconsin man for allegedly traveling to Minnesota for the purpose of having sexual relations with two minor females. In the indictment, which was filed with the U.S. District Court earlier today, Gabriel Vitali Matthias, of Madison, Wisconsin, was charged with one count of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and one count of coercion and enticement. The indictment alleges that Matthias, formerly known as Benjamin Wayne Gill, traveled in interstate commerce on February 16, 2009, for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with two girls under the age of 16. It also alleges Matthias coerced one of those girls to engage in sexual activity on April 23, 2009.
According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit, authorities learned about Matthias after one of the victims reported on February 19, 2009, that Matthias had traveled from California to Minnesota to see her. The girls allegedly met Matthias on the Internet in 2008, and they eventually began communicating with him by telephone and text messaging. Many of those communications were of a sexual nature.
In January or February of 2009, Matthias told the girls he was moving from California to Wisconsin and asked to meet them in Minnesota. On February 16, Matthias, the affidavit states, picked up the 13-year-old girl, provided her with alcohol, took her to a Bemidji motel room, and engaged in sexual acts with her.
That same night, the two then left the motel to pick up the 14-year-old girl. After doing so, Matthias allegedly gave both girls alcohol and drove them back to the motel. They attempted to enter the building through a rear entrance but were scared off by a security guard. Subsequently, Matthias took the 13-year-old girl home. Then, while driving the 14-year-old home, he allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with her.
Finally, on April 23, 2009, Matthias allegedly sent multiple text messages to the 14-year-old girl, enticing her to commit sexual acts.
Matthias was arrested on May 1, 2009, in Madison, Wisconsin, and extradited to Minnesota. If convicted, he faces a potential maximum penalty of life in prison on the coercion count and 30 years on the interstate travel count. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service and the Madison, Wisconsin, Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Otteson.
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