Tennessee man sentenced in Minnesota to 8 years in federal prison for traveling to have sex with 13-year-old girl
ST. PAUL, Minn. — An eastern Tennessee man was sentenced in federal court Friday for traveling to Minnesota to have sex with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Bloomington (Minnesota) Police Department.
Jeffery Scott Evans, 51, of Blaine, Tennessee, was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison for traveling to Bloomington to have illicit sexual conduct with an underage girl. Evans has previously pleaded guilty to the charges Aug. 11, 2015.
“The sexual exploitation of children by predators has reached epidemic proportions nationally and internationally,” said acting Special Agent in Charge William Lowder of HSI St. Paul. “Targeting these predators through the tireless efforts by our HSI special agents has been a high priority for more than a decade. These cases demonstrate how every parent must remain vigilant to Internet predators who may pose in various disguises to meet and ultimately sexually exploit children.”
According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, on June 12, 2015, Evans used the screen name “taboolooking” on a social media site called chathour.com to initiate a conversation with another user whom he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. However, this user was actually an undercover HSI special agent. Evans quickly turned the conversation to topics sexual in nature, and he discussed traveling from Tennessee to Minnesota to meet and have sex with the child.
According to the defendant’s guilty plea, between June 12 and June 22, 2015, Evans sent dozens of email messages and text messages describing the sexual acts he wanted to engage in with the girl. He also sent sexually explicit photos of himself. In one message, Evans discussed bringing a digital camera so he could take pictures and video of himself having sex with the 13-year-old girl.
Court records show that on June 22, 2015, Evans was arrested shortly after he arrived at the Bloomington hotel. Inside Evans’ hotel room law enforcement found sex toys and lingerie on the bed, as well as a camera and illegal drugs. Inside his vehicle, law enforcement found a loaded .38-caliber pistol.
This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.
For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.
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