United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana
07/15/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/15/2026 16:53
Gulfport Man Guilty of Travelling for the Purpose of Engaging in Illicit Sexual Conduct with Minors
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - DUSTIN LEE SEITZ ("SEITZ"), age 40, of Gulfport, Mississippi, plead guilty today to travelling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(b), announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.
According to the bill of information, beginning on or about March 2, 2026, and culminating on or about March 4, 2026, SEITZ travelled by car from Gulfport, Mississippi, to Mandeville, Louisiana, for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with an individual that SEITZ believed to be a fifteen-year-old female.
SEITZ faces a maximum term of imprisonment of thirty (30) years, at least five (5) years of supervised release, up to a $250,000 fine and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee. SEITZ may also be required to register as a sex offender.
U.S. District Judge Darrel James Papillion set SEITZ's sentencing for October 20, 2026.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
U.S. Attorney Courcelle praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Kathryn McHugh of the Financial Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.
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