Crawford County man sentenced to 3+ years in prison on child enticement charge

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Wednesday sentenced a Crawford County man who thought he’d arranged to have sex with a 14-year-old to 42 months in prison.

In June of 2019, Jeffrey D. Williams, now 49, communicated over Kik Messenger with an individual he believed to be a 14-year-old living in Texas.  Williams offered to drive to Texas to pick up the minor and bring her to Missouri for the purpose of engaging in sexual contact.

Williams pleaded guilty Oct. 28 to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.

In addition to the conduct giving rise to the plea, Williams further admitted that in April of 2020, he drove to an Applebee’s restaurant in Franklin County, Missouri, thinking he was going to have sex with a woman and her 14-year-old daughter. Williams had actually been corresponding online with an FBI agent and was placed under arrest.

The case was investigated by the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted 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, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.