Louisiana Man Sentenced to 10 Years’ Imprisonment for Child Exploitation Charge

ABINGDON, VA—A Louisiana man who transported a 14-year-old girl from Wythe County, Va. to Louisiana for the purpose of sexually abusing her was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon.

The charges resulted from a cooperative investigation by the Wythe County Virginia Sheriff’s Office, Caddo Parish, Louisiana Sheriff’s Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Marshals Service.

Today in District Court, Kevin Lunsford, 27, of Shreveport, Louisiana, was sentenced to 10 years of federal incarceration. The defendant previously pleaded guilty to one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce for purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct.

“The prosecution of those who exploit children is a top priority of the United States Attorney’s Office,” United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy said today. “We must do all in our power to protect our children, who are our most vulnerable citizens but our most precious resource for the future.”

According to evidence presented at prior hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Lee, Lunsford met the victim on the Myspace social networking site in 2009 and over the course of a year exchanged sexually explicit pictures, telephone conversations and e-mail messages with her. In September 2010, Lunsford traveled by bus to Wythe County to meet the victim without her parent’s knowledge at her residence in the early morning hours of September 20, 2010.

Lunsford and the victim left the residence and he purchased a bus ticket for the victim to travel with him to Shreveport, La. The two traveled to Shreveport and within a day of arriving in Louisiana, Lunsford and the victim were located at his apartment by law enforcement officers with the Caddo County Sheriff’s Department where Lunsford was arrested. At the time of his arrest, Lunsford admitted that he knew the victim was 14 years old and that he had engaged in illicit sexual activity with her in Wythe County and Shreveport.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Wythe County, Virginia Sheriff’s Office, the Caddo Parish, Louisiana Sheriff’s Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee of the United States Attorney’s Office in Abingdon is prosecuting the case.