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Acting United States Attorney Ellison C. Travis announced that U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles sentenced Jonathan Kimbrell, age 46, of Livingston, Louisiana, to 292 months in federal prison following his conviction for attempted enticement of a minor.  The Court further sentenced Kimbrell to five years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment and he must register as a convicted sex offender upon his release from prison.

Kimbrell was unanimously convicted by a jury on February 13, 2020, after a four-day trial.  As the evidence at trial demonstrated, from May 2, 2019, until June 6, 2019, he communicated online with two undercover FBI agents.  Kimbrell believed that he was communicating with an 11-year old girl, her stepfather, and her mother, when in fact, the FBI agents had undertaken those online personas.  He believed that the “stepfather” had been repeatedly molesting his “stepdaughter” and was now offering the “child” for sexual encounters by another adult.  Kimbrell did his best to convince the stepfather, mother, and child that he should be allowed to join in molesting the child.  Hundreds of emails were exchanged over more than 30 days in which Kimbrell sent numerous graphic emails describing how he would have sex with the child.  Kimbrell also did his best to convince the three that sex would be better with him than with the stepfather.  During the conversations with the fictitious child, Kimbrell developed and encouraged the nicknames of “Turtle” for himself and “Princess” for the child.   Eventually, Kimbrell met the undercover agents whom he believed to be the stepfather and mother at a restaurant in Denham Springs to discuss the ground rules for his first sexual encounter with the 11-year old girl.  At this meeting, he believed the child to be waiting in a motel room across the parking lot.  Kimbrell was arrested as he left the restaurant walking toward the motel where he believed the child was waiting.  When he was arrested, Kimbrell was found to be in possession of two boxes of condoms, personal lubricant, and baby oil.  Kimbrell was also in possession of a rhinestone key chain that spelled out “Princess,” which he had purchased as a gift for the child.

Acting U.S. Attorney Travis stated, “This conviction and sentence demonstrates our continued commitment to bring justice to those individuals such as Kimbrell who exploit or harm our children.  Working alongside our law enforcement partners in protecting our communities from child predators is a top priority of this office and I commend our prosecutor and our partners at FBI, Louisiana State Police, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, and Denham Springs Police Department for their excellent work in this matter.”

“Investigating individuals like Jonathan Kimbrell is one of the highest priorities of the FBI. As this case shows, the FBI continues to vigorously investigate and identify unknown individuals involved in the sexual exploitation of children.  This sentence is the culmination of an investigation and successful prosecution by federal prosecutors, special agents, and intelligence analysts who work tirelessly to remove sexual predators from children’s lives,” stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams, Jr.  “I would also like to thank our partners the Louisiana State Police, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, and Denham Springs Police Department for their collaboration and efforts with this investigation.”

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Louisiana State Police, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, and Denham Springs Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Frederick A. Menner, Jr. and Demetrius D. Sumner.