Brandenburg Man Pleads Guilty To Attempted Online Enticement And Distribution Of Obscene Material To A Minor

                 LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Brandenburg, Kentucky, man pleaded guilty to two child exploitation offenses on Tuesday, May 22, 2108, in United States District Court, announced United States Attorney Russell M. Coleman.

                 Jeffrey Adam Stone, 31, admitted to online communications with a person he believed to be a 15-year-old girl for the purpose of meeting her to engage in sexual conduct.  He also admitted to sending obscene material to the girl. 

                 According to the Plea Agreement and other court records, law enforcement officials became aware of Stone’s conduct as the result of an online undercover operation.  In November 2016, an investigator with the Kentucky Attorney General’s Department of Criminal Investigations placed an ad on Craigslist.  That same day, Stone responded to the ad.  During their initial communications, the investigator advised that he was a 15-year-old girl.  Stone continued the communications and directed them to a sexual nature.  Specifically, on numerous occasions, he requested to meet the girl to engage in sex acts. He also sent sexually explicit pictures of himself to the person he thought was a 15-year-old girl.

                  Stone will be sentenced on August 15, 2018, at 10:30 a.m. before United States District Judge David J. Hale.  Stone faces a statutorily mandated sentence of 10 years in prison and at least five years of Supervised Release.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Stone remains in the custody of the United States Marshals Service.

                  Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless prosecuted the case.  The Kentucky Office of Attorney General’s Department of Criminal Investigations conducted the investigation with assistance from the United States Secret Service. 

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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."

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