Arlington Man Sentenced for Soliciting Minor Child through Social Media

Memphis, TN – An Arlington man has been sentenced to federal prison for soliciting a minor child through social media. D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.

According to information presented in court, between June and September 2016, Matthew Marr used the internet to meet and seduce a fourteen-year old girl. Marr first met the child through a social media app. Although she told him that she was only fourteen, Marr quickly convinced her that he would be her boyfriend. Marr convinced the girl to take photographs of her genitals and send the pictures to him using another social media site. Ultimately, Marr met the girl in person and engaged in sexual intercourse.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

On October 30, 2017, U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr., sentenced Marr to 188 months imprisonment and 10 years supervised release following his incarceration.

For more information about PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.

The Bartlett Police Department and FBI Memphis Child Exploitation Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Deb Ireland prosecuted the case on the government’s behalf.