Marion Couple Sentenced to Federal Prison for Enticement of a Minor

A Marion husband and wife who enticed a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity were sentenced to federal prison today.

Michael Darling, age 21, received a sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment after a June 4, 2015 guilty plea to one count of enticement of a minor.  Jennifer Darling, age 27, received a sentence of over 19 years’ imprisonment after a June 8, 2015 guilty plea to one count of enticement of a minor.  Evidence at the sentencing hearings showed that both defendants communicated with a 15-year-old girl using Facebook and other electronic means.  Both defendants enticed the victim to send them sexually explicit depictions of herself and to engage in sex acts.  The victim met the defendants at their residence, where both defendants performed sex acts with her.

Both defendants were sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.  Michael Darling was sentenced to 360 months’ imprisonment, a special assessment of $100 was imposed, and he must also serve a 30-year term of supervised release.  Jennifer Darling was sentenced to 235 months’ imprisonment, a special assessment of $100 was imposed, and she must also serve an 8-year term of supervised release.  Both defendants must comply with all sex offender registration and public notification requirements.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Jones County Sheriff’s Office.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is CR 15-39.

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