Quincy man could get life in prison as he faces federal charges for coercion of minor in New York

QUINCY — A Quincy man has been arrested on a federal warrant for the coercion and enticement of a minor.

Detectives with the Quincy Police received a tip on Feb. 15 that convicted sex offender Derek A. Hasselbrink was living and working in Quincy and had not registered with the Quincy Police Department as required by law.  Hasselbrink was located and arrested without incident at 12:10 p.m. that day at a business near 30th and Broadway.  

Hasselbrink also had outstanding warrants out of Kane County for burglary and out of Kentucky for failure to register as a sex offender.  He was interviewed at the Quincy Police Department and lodged in the Adams County Jail. 

Shortly after his arrest, Hasselbrink was released on pretrial release for his new felony charge of failure to register as a sex offender.  He was then extradited to Kane County on the burglary warrant, where he again only spent a short time before he was released on pretrial release.  Hasselbrink was then extradited to Kentucky.

While Hasselbrink was being transferred between jails, Quincy Police Detectives executed multiple search warrants on Hasselbrink’s cell phone and social media accounts and learned Hasselbrink was having inappropriate conversations and/or relationships with minors online. Detectives also learned Hasselbrink had previously traveled to New York and met one of the minor females who was later forensically interviewed in New York.  

Quincy Police Detectives worked over the next several months with agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) New York field office, the FBI’s field office in Louisville, Ky., the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, the Dutchess County (N.Y.) Sheriff’s Office and several others.

Detectives also reviewed jail phone calls while Hasselbrink was in the Adams County Jail and learned he had been having inappropriate conversations with the alleged minor female from New York. A new arrest warrant was issued on March 20 for Hasselbrink in Adams County for unlawful communication with a minor by a sex offender. 

Quincy Police detectives traveled to Madison County, Ky., on March 28 to serve Hasselbrink the new warrant and interview him a second time. Hasselbrink was extradited on April 19 to Adams County, where he was lodged.

A federal arrest warrant was issued on Monday, June 10, from the Southern District of New York for Hasslebrink’s arrest on one count of enticing a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity and one count of engaging in this offense while being required to register as a sex offender. Quincy Police detectives served the federal warrant on Hasselbrink while at the Adams County Jail on Wednesday, June 12.  

According to allegations in the federal complaint, Hasselbrink engaged in sexually explicit message conversations with a 15-year-old girl and traveled to meet her near her home in Dutchess County, N.Y., to engage in sexual activity from at least in or about April 2023 up to on or about July 2, 2023.

“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,” Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a press release. “Hasselbrink allegedly knew his victim was a minor, so he lied about his age and took other measures to hide his unlawful intent.”

“Those who prey upon the innocence of children represent the dark and twisted side of the criminal underworld,” said James Smith, assistant director in charge of the New York field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “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.”

Each federal charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Hasselbrink then was transported to the federal courthouse in Springfield and made an initial appearance on the new warrant.  Hasselbrink was then remanded to the custody of the U.S.  Marshals and awaits extradition to New York.  

In light of Hasselbrink’s new federal charges, which carry a sentencing range of up to life in prison, all charges in Adams County were dismissed.     

Anyone with information concerning Hasselbrink, also known as “Derek Spear,” or anyone whose child may have had any communications with Hasselbrink, is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or https://tips.fbi.gov.