Louisiana Man to Federal Prison for Sexually Enticing an Iowa Child

 Requested sexually explicit pictures from 12-year old victim

Christopher Ray White, 23, from Lettsworth, Louisiana, pled guilty and was sentenced August 12, 2020, to more than 10 years in federal prison for enticing a minor.

Evidence showed that White utilized Omegle and iMessage to communicate with the victim between June 22, 2018, and June 27, 2018.  The victim told White they were only 12 years old.  After learning the victim’s age, White requested to see the victim’s genitals.  White later sent photos of his erect penis to the victim and videos of himself masturbating and encouraged the victim to do the same.

White was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  White was sentenced to 126 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.  White is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ 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 individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mikala Steenholdt and investigated by Iowa Department of Criminalistics Investigations, and Spirit Lake Police Department.