After a 4-day trial, a Haverhill, Massachusetts man was found guilty by a federal jury of attempting to sex traffic a 12-year-old as part of a proactive federal and local law enforcement operation that took place in November of 2024, United States Attorney Erin Creegan announces. 

Sharath Chandra Bollu, age 25, was convicted of one count of attempted sex trafficking of a minor and one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. United States Chief District Court Judge Samantha Elliott ordered Bollu detained pending sentencing, which is scheduled for November 24, 2026.

On November 14, 2024, in a proactive law enforcement operation, agents posted and monitored an advertisement on a website commonly used to advertise commercial sex. The advertisement contained images of what appeared to be two minor females, and a contact phone number. Law enforcement agents monitored this line and used it to communicate with potential sex buyers, including Bollu. During a text conversation and several phone calls between an undercover agent and Bollu, the agent stated that a 12-year-old girl was available to perform sex acts in exchange for money. Bollu communicated with the number from November 14 into the evening of November 15, 2024. He then traveled to a hotel in Manchester, which was the designated location for the commercial sex date. He brought condoms and $100 in cash to the hotel. 

Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation. Manchester Police Department, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, and the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force provided valuable assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Vicinanzo and Charles Rombeau are prosecuting the case. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims.