United States v. Pepe, No. 14-50095 (9th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit vacated defendant's conviction and sentence under the 2005 version of 18 U.S.C. 2423(c), which applies to a U.S. citizen who travels in foreign commerce, and engages in any illicit sexual conduct with another person. In this case, defendant, a U.S. citizen, drugged and raped several children in Cambodia, where he claims to have resided for several years. The panel held that Congress subsequently amended the statute to add a new basis for criminal liability. The panel held that, from the statutory amendment, as well as the accompanying legislative history, it was evident that section 2423(c) was previously inapplicable to U.S. citizens living abroad unless they were traveling—meaning something more than being in transit—when they had illicit sex. Because the jury was not properly instructed on the travel element in this case, the panel vacated and remanded should the government elect to retry him.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel vacated a conviction and sentence under the 2005 version of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(c), which applies to a U.S. citizen “who travels in foreign commerce, and engages in any illicit sexual conduct with another person,” and remanded, in a case in which the defendant, a U.S. citizen, drugged and raped several children in Cambodia, where he claims to have resided for several years. The defendant contended that the statutory language didn’t encompass his conduct because, as a resident of Cambodia, he had ceased “travel[ing] in foreign commerce.” The panel held that in light of a 2013 amendment to the statute adding a new basis for criminal liability, as well as the accompanying legislative history, it is evident that the version of § 2423(c) in effect at the time of the defendant’s illicit sexual conduct was inapplicable to U.S. citizens living abroad unless they were traveling—meaning something more than being in transit—when they had illicit sex. The panel wrote that this subsequent Congressional pronouncement is clearly irreconcilable with this court’s previous construction of the statute in United States v. Clark, 435 F.3d 1100 (9th Cir. 2006) (concluding that § 2423(c) “does not require that the conduct occur while traveling in foreign commerce”), and that the panel is therefore not bound by the reasoning in Clark.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.