Sex Offender Enticed 15-Year-Old Hudson Valley Girl To Have Sex: DOJ

DUTCHESS COUNTY, NY — Federal offcials say that being on the registered sex offender list didn't stop a 48-year-old man from preying on a Dutchess County teen.

Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, announced on Wednesday a complaint charging Derek Hasselbrink, a/k/a "Derek Spear," with enticing a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity and committing the offense while being required to register as a sex offender. Hasselbrink was arrested Wednesday morning and was presented in federal court in the Central District of Illinois.

"As alleged, Derek Hasselbrink, a 48-year-old convicted sex offender, pretended to be a 17-year-old boy online in an effort to coerce and entice a 15-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity," Williams said. "Hasselbrink allegedly knew that his victim was a minor, so he lied about his own age and took other measures to hide his unlawful intent. This Office will continue to relentlessly pursue predators who sexually exploit children, whether online or in person."

According to court documents, from April 2023 to July 2, 2023, 48-year-old Hasselbrink engaged in sexually explicit message conversations with a 15-year-old girl and traveled to meet her near her home in Dutchess County to engage in sexual activity.

"Those who prey upon the innocence of children represent the dark and twisted side of the criminal underworld," Smith said. "Derek Hasselbrink — having failed to register as a previously convicted sex offender — allegedly seduced and coerced a minor female to participate in illicit sexual activity through lewd and horrifyingly explicit messages. Today's arrest emphasizes the FBI's intrepid vigilance to protecting one of our most vulnerable populations, especially from those who seek to exploit and harm them for perverse gratification."

Hasselbrink, of Quincy, Illinois, was charged with one count of enticing a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison, and one count of engaging in the offense while being required to register as a sex offender, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, which must run consecutively to any other sentence imposed.

Williams praised the investigative work of the FBI; the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office; the Quincy, Illinois Police Department; the Adams County States Attorney’s Office; the Office of the Attorney General of Kentucky; the Springfield, Illinois Field Office of the FBI; and the Cleveland Division of the FBI, Canton Resident Agency’s Child Exploitation Task Force.

Anyone with information about Derek Hasselbrink, a/k/a "Derek Spear," or whose child may have had any contact with Hasselbrink, is asked to contact the FBI by phone at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or through the website.