CHARLESTON, W.Va. - An Ohio man was sentenced today to spend 10 years in federal prison for attempting to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and traveling in interstate commerce in order to engage in illicit sexual activity with a minor, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart.
“The message should be clear -- if you try to sexually exploit our children and we find you, we will prosecute you," said United States Attorney Mike Stuart.
Douglas James Allmon, 51, of Canton, Ohio, previously pled guilty to both charges in January 2019. Allmon admitted that during August and September 2018 he communicated via text message with a minor he believed to be a 14-year-old girl in Parkersburg, West Virginia. During the conversations, Allmon attempted to persuade and entice the minor to meet him in order to engage in sexual intercourse. On September 7, 2018, Allmon traveled from his home in Ohio to Parkersburg, West Virginia, in order to have sex with the minor. Only then did Allmon discover that the minor was actually an undercover law enforcement officer.
Upon his release from prison, he will be required to serve a term of supervised release of 15 years. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
The investigation was conducted by the West Virginia State Police, the West Virginia States Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the FBI Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Parkersburg Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald was in charge of the prosecution. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of 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, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
