Virginia Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Traveling to Engage in Sex with a Minor

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Carlin M. Krause, 28, of Roanoke, Virginia, has been sentenced to more than 16 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor and transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that in October 2024, Krause began communicating with a 13-year-old girl over social media. Krause requested that the minor send him child sexual abuse material. He also informed her that he planned to travel from Virginia to South Carolina and bring her back to Virginia to have sex with her.

On Oct. 17, 2024, Krause drove from Roanoke, Virginia, to South Carolina to pick up the minor. After Krause picked her up, he began driving her back to Virginia, but law enforcement apprehended him before he made it home.

United States District Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks sentenced Krause to 195 months imprisonment, to be followed by a lifetime term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the 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 sexually exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cole Shannon prosecuted the case.

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