ARLINGTON — An Arlington man, Matthew Marr, has been sentenced to federal prison for soliciting a minor child through social media.
D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence Monday.
According to information presented in court, between June and September 2016, Marr used the Internet to meet and seduce a 14-year old girl. He first met the child through a social media app. Although she told him that she was only 14, Marr quickly convinced her that he would be her boyfriend.
Marr convinced the girl to take photographs of her genitals and send the pictures to him using another social media site. Ultimately, Marr met the girl in person and engaged in sexual intercourse.
The Bartlett Police Department and FBI Memphis Child Exploitation Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Deb Ireland prosecuted the case on the government’s behalf.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr. sentenced Marr to 188 months of imprisonment (more than 15 and one-half years), followed by 10 years of supervised release.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC 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 PSC, visit justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, visit justice.gov/psc/resources.
CAROLYN BAHM is the editor of The Bartlett Express. Contact her at (901) 433-9138 or via email to carolyn.bahm@journalinc.com.
