A former Oshkosh man who walked from Indiana to Wisconsin to have sex with a minor has  been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

According to  a U.S. Department of Justice press release:

Starting on Oct. 1, 2019, Tommy Lee Jenkins, 33, who had recently moved from Oshkosh to Whitestown, Indiana,  began exchanging instant messages with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl named “Kylee,” demanding sexually explicit photographs from the minor and making plans to engage in sexual activity with her.

When his numerous requests for “Kylee” to join him in Indiana were rebuffed, Jenkins began walking the 351 miles from Whitestown to Neenah. Along the way, Jenkins continued to engage “Kylee” in sexually explicit conversations and updated her as to his current location.

But “Kylee” was, in fact, a Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department deputy assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.  Upon his arrival in Winnebago County, sheriff’s deputies and a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation placed Jenkins under arrest.

Jenkins was convicted of state charges of child abuse in 2011. At the sentencing hearing, the government detailed for the court numerous incidents in the eight years following that conviction wherein Jenkins was alleged to have sexually abused minors and others.

In handing down the sentence, Senior District Judge William C. Griesbach noted the serious nature of the charge and a strong need to protect the public and deter Jenkins from abusing children in the future.  Following his release from prison, Jenkins will spend the remainder of his life on supervised release.  He will also have to register as a sexual offender.

“Because of the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office’s and the FBI’s excellent work, Tommy Lee Jenkins will not be able to prey on any more children,” said States Attorney Matthew D. Krueger of the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006, by the U.S. Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.