A 32-year-old man who walked from an Indianapolis suburb to Wisconsin to engage in sexual activity with a 14-year-old was arrested Thursday and faces charges of using a computer to attempt to persuade, induce, or entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity.
Tommy Lee Jenkins, 32, who recently moved from Oshkosh to Whitestown, Indiana, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to a lifetime of imprisonment if convicted of that charge.
According to the criminal complaint and supporting affidavit, Jenkins began exchanging instant messages on Oct. 1 with “Kylee” whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl living in Neenah with her mother. Jenkins began demanding sexually explicit photographs from “Kylee” and making plans to engage in sexual activity with the minor. When his numerous requests for “Kylee” to join him in Indiana were rebuffed, Jenkins began walking the 351-mile trek from Indiana to Neenah. Along the way, Jenkins continued to engage “Kylee” in sexually explicit conversations and updated her as to his current location.
“Kylee” was, in fact, a Winnebago County Sheriff’s Deputy assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Upon Jenkins arrival in Winnebago County, sheriff’s deputies and a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation placed him under arrest.
“Our nation faces an epidemic of child sexual abuse, with the Internet making it too easy for predators to communicate with children across the country,” said United States Attorney Krueger. “The Justice Department is committed to working with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to prosecute child sexual abuse aggressively.”
This case was investigated by the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the Green Bay office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel R. Humble.
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 U.S. Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the 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.
