Project Safe Childhood: Two Defendants Sentenced to Federal Prison for Traveling to Have Sex With Minors

CHARLESTON, W.Va. –  United States Attorney Mike Stuart announced that two different defendants were sentenced to federal prison this week for traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of having sex with a minor.

“Our law enforcement partnerships are strong - VERY STRONG,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart.  “The excellent work of our partners enables us to bring to justice those who prey on children. We will always place the highest priority on protecting our children.”

On January 14, 2020, Ryan Scott Kibble, 33, of Parkersburg, West Virginia, was sentenced to serve 57 months in federal prison for traveling in interstate commerce in order to engage in illicit sexual activity with a minor.  Upon release from prison, Kibble will be required to serve a term of 15 years of supervised release and register as sex offender. Kibble previously admitted that on March 1, 2019, he began communicating via a social messaging application and text messages with a minor he believed to be a 14-year-old girl located in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Despite knowing her age, Kibble discussed meeting the minor to engage in sexual intercourse. On the evening of March 1, 2019, Kibble also spoke with the purported minor on the phone, further discussing plans to meet the next day in Parkersburg in order to engage in oral sex and sexual intercourse with the minor in his vehicle. On March 2, 2019, Kibble traveled from his work in Belpre, Ohio to an arranged meeting location in Parkersburg in order to engage in sexual intercourse with the purported 14-year-old girl.  Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber presided over the sentencing hearing.

On January 15, 2020, Thomas Wilson Parks, Jr., 33, of Coolville, Ohio, was sentenced to serve 30 months in federal prison for traveling in interstate commerce in order to engage in illicit sexual activity with a minor. Upon release from prison, Kibble will be required to serve a term of 10 years of supervised release and register as sex offender. Parks previously admitted that on March 2, 2019, he began communicating via a social messaging application with a minor he believed to be a 14-year-old girl located in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Despite knowing her age, Parks traveled from Ohio to Parkersburg shortly after beginning to chat with the purported minor in order to engage in sexual intercourse with her. While on the way to the meeting location, Parks stopped to buy condoms.  Senior United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr., presided over the sentencing hearing.

The investigations were both conducted by the FBI West Virginia Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force in conjunction with the West Virginia States Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Parkersburg Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald is in charge of the prosecutions.

These cases were 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.