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

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – An Elizabethtown man pled guilty to two child exploitation offenses yesterday in United States District Court, announced United States Attorney Russel M. Coleman.

Timothy Scott Walters, 51, 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 same person. 

According to the plea agreement and other court records, law enforcement officials became aware of Walters’ conduct as the result of an online undercover operation.  In March of last year, an investigator responded to a Louisville Craigslist ad indicating that the person who placed the ad was  “looking for a sub girl to please me, the younger the better”. The investigator replied to the ad an advised that he was a 15-year-old girl.  Walters asked details about the girl’s sexual history, sent graphic sexual photos of himself, and requested to meet her to engage in sex acts.

The investigator determined that Walters worked for the United States Postal Service in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.  After being advised of his constitutional rights and waiving those rights, Walters admitted that he had placed the Craigslist ad that resulted in the conversation with a 15-year-old girl. He went on to state that he used the Craigslist personals site in the past to meet people for sexual encounters. In his estimate he had used the site 10 to 15 times to meet individuals for sex. He also admitted that the photos he sent to the girl were pornographic and that the age of consent in Kentucky is 16.

Walters will be sentenced on May 11, 2018, at 11:00 a.m. before Chief United States District Judge Joseph H. McKinley, Jr.  Walters 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.  Walters 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 Postal Inspectors. 

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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."