Beach man gets 35 years for attempted kidnapping

NORFOLK

When undercover federal agents arrested Alan Paul Strieper at the Norfolk airport in February, they found in his car all the supplies needed for kidnapping, and maybe even killing, a young child: rope, tape, rubber gloves, bleach, sponges and a stuffed Elmo doll.

Authorities said the agents probably saved a little boy's life that day.

"He was an online menace," Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa O'Boyle told a judge in U.S. District Court on Tuesday "He is every parent's worst nightmare."

Judge Mark S. Davis showed no mercy for Strieper, who claimed he developed pedophilia after being molested as a child by a Boy Scout troop leader. Davis sentenced Strieper to 35 years.

"I cannot bring myself to repeat the things that are discussed here," Davis said while reading to himself the details of the plot. "This is the most disturbing thing I think I've seen in seven years" as a judge.

Strieper, 25, of Virginia Beach pleaded guilty to attempted enticement of a minor and child-pornography charges. After he was arrested in February, federal agents discovered on Strieper's home computer what they described as photos and videos of children being raped and tortured.

The kidnapping and rape plot was hatched during a series of online conversations between November and February with a man Strieper thought was like-minded. The man, though, was working undercover for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The man flew here in February under the guise of carrying out the plot but instead arrested Strieper at the airport.

They had been discussing the kidnapping plot for months, agreeing to snatch a boy off a street in a rural area and take him to a hotel to be raped and possibly murdered.

In one of his last online chats, according to court papers detailing the conversations, Strieper wrote after finalizing the plan, "I can't wait to rape a little boy!"

He wondered what would happen if the boy died during the sexual attack.

"We would have to just toss him in a weighted bag in a river I guess," he said during the chat.

Then later, he addressed that again, telling the undercover man that the boy "will probably be all bruised and bloody if not dead when we're done," then adding, "if he dies, he's going in a trash bag and getting hidden somewhere."

After his arrest and confession, Strieper also admitted that he enticed two 15-year-old boys - one from Chesapeake and one from Virginia Beach - during online discussions to have sex with him, but never followed through. That added to Strieper's penalty.

Federal guidelines called for a sentence of between 30 years and life. Strieper's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Walter Dalton, asked for "substantially less" time, citing his client's past abuse, the need for treatment and the fact that no child was harmed.

"He does not need longer than he has already lived to address these problems," Dalton told the judge.

Davis said that while there have been cases where he has shown leniency, "this is not that situation." He ordered that Strieper receive mental health treatment.

At the time of his arrest, Strieper was a petty officer 2nd class in the Navy, most recently serving aboard the amphibious transport dock San Antonio. He was discharged in March.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com