August 22, 1997|By Scott Higham | Scott Higham,SUN STAFF
A contract employee at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt is facing charges that he used an office computer to try to lure what he thought was a 13-year-old girl into a sexual relationship in Washington.
The "girl" turned out to be an undercover Howard County detective assigned to a regional child exploitation task force. The contract employee, Brant Paige Brockdorff, found himself in federal court in Washington on Wednesday, where he was arraigned on charges that he used a computer to cross state lines with the intent to have sex with a juvenile.
If convicted of the felony, Brockdorff, 30, of Crofton could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
"He's not guilty, and we look forward to proving it at a trial," his attorney, Robert C. Bonsib, said yesterday. "They got it wrong. I've got a guy with an impeccable background and an impeccable reputation."
A status conference for the case is set for Sept. 4.
Brockdorff, a contract worker employed by AT&T, was arrested on Aug. 6 -- the 122nd person arrested since the FBI's Mid-Atlantic task force was formed after a 1993 kidnapping case in Prince George's County.
According to a search warrant affidavit filed in the case, Howard County Detective Diana Peters went on the Internet last month, calling herself "Britneyluv," a 13-year-old from Baltimore. Brockdorff replied, identifying himself as "LivininMD," an Annapolis man who liked "hot oil massages" and wanted to trade photographs with the teen-ager, the affidavit says.
Brockdorff transmitted a photo of himself through his computer, wearing shorts and no shirt, the affidavit says. He suggested that he wanted to meet the teen, and "Britneyluv" replied that she was only 13, according to the affidavit.
"I would still like to meet, if it doesn't bother you," Brockdorff allegedly wrote, the affidavit says.
The conversations between the two turned increasingly sexual, according to the affidavit by FBI agent Luanne F. Vizzi. Brockdorff allegedly suggested several meetings but he failed to appear.
On Aug. 6, Brockdorff allegedly showed up for a rendezvous at the Mazza Gallery in Washington, where he was arrested by task force members.
Pub Date: 8/22/97
