The FBI announced in a recent press release that a man from Franklin County, Theodore “Ted” John Sartori Sr., 63, pleaded guilty in U. S. District Court in St. Louis. Sartori pleaded to the felony charge of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. He admitted that from the winter of 2013 to the summer of 2016, he provided cash, a car, a motorcycle, Christmas presents and vacations to a friend in exchange for access to the victim, a 14-year-old girl.

Records show that Sartori owns the property at 918 W. Fitzgerald, just west of the Gerald city limits. Court records also show Sartori has used that address when faced with another, less serious state charge.

A second man, Sartori’s co-defendant, is still being sought by the FBI, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Donald Eugene Fields II, 60, was indicted in 2022 but has not been arrested. Fields, who is wanted for the alleged sex trafficking of at least one child in Missouri, has been added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. The FBI is offering up to $250,000 for information leading to his arrest.

In late 2022, the FBI believed Fields to be in the Franklin or Phelps counties area of Missouri.

The agency cautioned Fields should be considered armed and dangerous.

Fields is a white male and uses a birth date of July 9, 1964. He has brown hair, hazel eyes, weighs between 219 to 235 pounds and is between six feet to six feet four inches tall. He has scars on his chest, groin, left calf, both legs and knees.

Fields has worked as a tree trimmer, former resale shop owner, and independently sold used cars.

Those with any information about Fields should contact their local FBI office. In the St. Louis area, the number is 314-589-2500. Information may also be given to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office by calling 636-583-2560. Callers may remain anonymous.

Sartori is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 6. The charge carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison. As part of his plea, Sartori has also agreed to pay more than $25,000 in restitution to his victim.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.

The case was investigated jointly by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, with assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards is 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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.