By Shereen Siewert
Federal officials say a former Oshkosh man will face criminal charges after he allegedly walked from Indiana to Wisconsin to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex.
Tommy Lee Jenkins, 32, faces charges of using a computer to attempt to persuade, induce or entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity. The case will be prosecuted in Green Bay’s federal court.
Prosecutors say Jenkins on Oct. 1 started exchanging instant messages with someone named “Kylee,” whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl living in Neenah. But “Kylee” was really a Winnebago County Sheriff’s deputy assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Jenkins, who had recently moved from Oshkosh to Whitestown, Indiana, told the “teen” he’d like to have 500 children with her including one within the first year.
Court documents state that Jenkins tried to persuade the “teen” to travel to Indiana to meet him, and sent her sexually explicit photos of himself. When the “teen” refused to meet him in Indiana, he began the 371-mile trek to Wisconsin, sending photos of himself along the way.
On Thursday, he took a bus from Milwaukee to Winnebago County, where he was arrested by sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents.
Court records show Jenkins has a previous criminal history that includes 2011 charges of repeated first-degree sexual assault of a child. As part of a plea deal, those charges were reduced to four counts of child abuse. He spent four years on probation.
If he is convicted, Jenkins faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years up to a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Jenkins is being held in the Brown County Jail.
