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Press Release

Ridgeland Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Mississippi

Jackson, Miss. - Steven Daniel Tutor, 42, of Ridgeland, was sentenced Thursday, January 14, 2021, by Senior United States District Judge Tom S. Lee to 10 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for attempted enticement and coercion of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Michelle A. Sutphin, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Mississippi.  Tutor must also register as a sex offender.

On July 27, 2019, Tutor attempted to entice an individual he believed to be a 14-year old boy to engage in sexual explicit conduct with him.  Through online chat with the minor, Tutor made plans to drive to the Extended Studio Hotel in Jackson, Mississippi, to pick up the minor and take him to an isolated parking area to engage in sexual activities.  The FBI arrested Tutor at the hotel in his vehicle as described in the online chats.   

Tutor was indicted on May 27, 2020 and he pled guilty before Judge Lee on October 8, 2020.

The case was investigated by the FBI Jackson Field Office's Child Exploitation Task Force and the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office. The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office also assisted with the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Glenda R. Haynes prosecuted the case.

The 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 Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Updated January 19, 2021

Topic
Project Safe Childhood