Tractor-Trailer Driver from Illinois Pleads Guilty to Transporting Minor from Virginia to South Dakota and Engaging in Criminal Sexual Activity

ABINGDON, Va. – A Cahokia, Illinois man pleaded guilty today to transporting a minor from Virginia to South Dakota with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

According to court documents, David Kyle Skaggs, 33, was an over-the-road tractor-trailer operator. In 2015, Skaggs started communicating on Facebook with a 15-year-old boy in Lee County, Virginia. Over the course of several months, Skaggs and the boy, “AA,” developed a friendly relationship and Skaggs became acquainted with AA’s family, including AA’s younger sister, victim “KL,” who was 13 years old.

In August 2015, Skaggs took AA and KL on a long-distance trip in his tractor-trailer. Skaggs picked up AA and KL in Lee County and drove them to South Dakota. After stopping at a truck stop in South Dakota, Skaggs bought the two minors alcohol, and they all drank while sitting in the truck. After AA was asleep, Skaggs had sexual intercourse with KL in the sleeper portion of Skaggs’ truck.  KL later gave birth to Skaggs’s child.     

Skaggs is scheduled to be sentenced on September 30, 2021 and faces a minimum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar of the Western District of Virginia and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division made the announcement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Lee County Sheriff’s Department, and Virginia Department of Social Services investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Whit D. Pierce is prosecuting the case.