man pleads guilty to transporting iowa child to georgia for sex
Contact: Peter Deegan
A man who purchased an airline ticket for a 14-year-old girl to fly to Georgia for sex pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Gary Archer, age 28, from Valdosta, Georgia, was convicted of one count of interstate travel to sexually abuse a child and one count of transporting a child in interstate commerce for unlawful sex.
In a plea agreement, Archer admitted that, on or about May 28, 2010, he drove from Georgia to Iowa to with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl. Once in Iowa, Archer had sexual intercourse with the girl on multiple occasions.
Archer also admitted that, on or about July 2, 2010, he caused the girl to be transported from Iowa to Georgia by purchasing a commercial airline ticket for the girl. Archer picked the girl up at the Atlanta airport and had sexual intercourse with her on multiple occasions over the course of approximately one month. Archer had previously telephoned the girl’s father claiming to be a family member of a friend of the girl. Posing as the friend’s family member, Archer falsely claimed the friend was in poor health and wanted the girl to visit the friend in Georgia.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Archer remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Archer faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and supervised release for 5 years to life following any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Peter Deegan and was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Lowndes County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office, and the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 11-1 LRR.
