MISSOULA - An Anaconda man today admitted charges that he attempted to coerce and entice a girl he believed to be a minor into engaging in sexual activity during an undercover investigation, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.
Terry Joseph Jette, 56, pleaded guilty to attempted coercion and enticement as charged in an indictment. Jette faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $250,000 fine and at least five years to a lifetime of supervised release.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto presided. Sentencing was set for March 30, 2022 before U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Jette was detained pending further proceedings.
The government alleged in court documents that on June 21, Jette initiated a conversation on Instagram with a 13-year-old user girl who was actually an undercover FBI special agent. At the start of the online chatting, Jette was told that the girl was 13 years old. Jette continued online communication with the girl until his arrest on July 9. During the comunications, Jette sent the girl an image of his penis and requested nude images of the purported child. Jette initiated sexually explicit conversation with the girl, suggested a meeting and discussed bringing methamphetamine and condoms to the meeting. On July 8, Jette traveled from Anaconda to Missoula to meet the girl and asked her to sneak out of her house. When the girl was unable to meet that day, Jette suggested a meeting the next day in East Missoula. Jette made explicit statements about engaging in sexual intercourse and said he had meth. On July 9, Jette was arrested at the predetermined meeting location. During a search of his vehicle, law enforcement found a condom, meth, Viagra and candy that the girl had told Jette she liked during their online communications.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office.
This case was initiated under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which was launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children. Through a network of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, Project Safe Childhood attempts to protect children by investigating and prosecuting offenders involved in child sexual exploitation. It is implemented through partnerships including the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The ICAC Task Force Program was created to assist state and local law enforcement agencies by enhancing their investigative response to technology facilitated crimes against children.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
