A convicted sex offender from Quincy, Illinois, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for enticing a 15-year-old girl in Dutchess County, prosecutors said. U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román handed down the sentence Friday, along with 15 years of supervised release. Prosecutors say Derek Hasselbrink used online messages and then traveled to meet the girl in mid-2023. The case was handled by the White Plains division of the U.S. Attorney's Office.
In a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton called the conduct a “heinous crime” of sexual exploitation of a child. The office identified the defendant as Derek Hasselbrink, also known as “Derek Spear,” and confirmed that Judge Román imposed the 15-year prison term, followed by 15 years of supervised release.
How prosecutors say it unfolded
According to prosecutors, Hasselbrink pretended online to be a 17-year-old and exchanged sexually explicit messages with a 15-year-old girl from at least April 2023 through July 2, 2023. They say he then traveled to meet her near her Dutchess County home. As the earlier complaint put it, he “pretended to be a 17-year-old boy” online. That complaint and Hasselbrink’s arrest were first detailed in a June 12, 2024 announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Multi-agency probe led to charges
The U.S. Attorney's Office credited the FBI and a roster of local law enforcement partners with conducting a multi-jurisdictional investigation that developed leads across Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio. Local coverage also reported that tips and interagency coordination played a key role in prompting the arrest, as News 12 Westchester noted.
Legal context
Federal enticement laws come with serious built-in penalties. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b), using any form of interstate commerce, such as the internet or a cellphone, to entice a minor is punishable by a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and up to life, as set out in the U.S. Code. Judges typically weigh federal sentencing guidelines, statutory ranges and supervised-release requirements when deciding a sentence, which puts Hasselbrink’s 15-year term within that framework; see 18 U.S.C. § 2422.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kingdar Prussien of the White Plains Division handled the prosecution, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Authorities urge anyone with information about the sexual exploitation of children to contact the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit information online at tips.fbi.gov.
