Indiana School Teacher Charged with Traveling to Kentucky to Engage in Sexual Conduct with a Minor

Bowling Green, KY – A federal grand jury in Bowling Green, Kentucky returned a three-count indictment today charging an Evansville, Indiana high school teacher with traveling across state lines to Owensboro, Kentucky, for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a person he believed to be a fifteen-year-old child, attempted enticement of a minor, and attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor.

U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Robert Holman of the United States Secret Service Louisville Field Office, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Commissioner Phillip Burnett, Jr. of the Kentucky State Police, and Chief Art Ealum of the Owensboro Police Department made the announcement.

The charges were the result of a joint federal, state, and local operation called Operation Angel, aimed at making federal arrests of sexual predators who prey upon children in the Owensboro area. The operation, which was led by the United States Secret Service, included the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky, the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General, the Kentucky State Police, and the Owensboro Police Department. 

According to court documents, Cody McCormick, 27, of Evansville, Indiana, was charged with one count of attempted enticement of a minor, one count of interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual activity with a minor, and one count of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor.    McCormick faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison for the enticement charge. McCormick also faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for the charge of interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the obscenity charge. If convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence imposed upon McCormick after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal system.

The defendant will make an initial court appearance on a later date before a U. S. Magistrate Judge of the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky in Owensboro.

The United States Secret Service, the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General, the Kentucky State Police, and the Owensboro Police Department are investigating the case. 

Assistant United States Attorney A. Spencer McKiness is prosecuting the case. 

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.”

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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