Man walks 351 miles from Indiana to Wisconsin to have sex with teen only to find an undercover cop waiting to arrest him
32-year-old Tommy Lee Jenkins walked the 351 miles from his home in an Indianapolis suburb all the way to Wisconsin hoping to meet Kylee, the 14-year-old girl he was grooming online. However, when he finally reached Wisconsin there was a surprise waiting for him: "Kylee" was actually an undercover cop waiting to arrest him.
The Daily Mail reports that Jenkins has been charged with using a computer to attempt to persuade, induce or entice a minor to engage in unlawful sex. Jenkins now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and he could receive up to a lifetime in prison if convicted of his crimes.
According to a press release from the US Department of Justice, Jenkins has been charged via a criminal complaint following his arrest by local and federal authorities on October 10. Jenkins allegedly began exchanging instant messages "Kylee", whom he believed to be a minor who was living in Neenah, Wisconsin.
Jenkins had recently moved from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to Whitestown, Indiana. As a part of his attempts at grooming "Kylee", Jenkins demanded sexually explicit photographs and tried to convince the child to visit him so they could have sex, allegedly telling her that he wanted to have "500 kids" with her, including one within the same year.
After he began his 351-mile march to meet "Kylee", Jenkins reportedly continued to send explicit messages and regularly updated "Kylee" on his location. He arrived in Milwaukee on October 10 and, after getting someone to pay for his bus ticket, Jenkins finally arrived in Winnebago County ready to meet "Kylee".
Of course, what he didn't realize was that "Kylee" was actually a Winnebago County Sheriff's Deputy who had been assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Jenkins was promptly arrested on arrival in Winnebago County by an FBI special agent and local officers.
The case was reportedly investigated by the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Green Bay office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Jenkins will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel R. Humble.
"Our nation faces an epidemic of child sexual abuse, with the Internet making it too easy for predators to communicate with children across the country," said United States Attorney Matthew D. Krueger. "The Justice Department is committed to working with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to prosecute child sexual abuse aggressively."
This isn't the first time Jenkins has faced charges for attempting to engage a minor in sexual acts. Oshkosh Northwestern reports that the 32-year-old was previously arrested in Winnebago County in 2011 on two counts of repeated first-degree sexual assault of a minor. Eventually, those charges were lessened to four counts of child abuse for which Jenkins was sentenced to four years probation and jailed for 360 days.
He allegedly assaulted a 7-year-old boy by rubbing the child's genitals. He then tried to intimidate the child by telling him that they would get in trouble if he told anyone. Jenkins was also accused of similarly assaulting an 8-year-old boy. When interrogated for the crimes, Jenkins claimed that both boys were lying about the incidents.