In Southern Illinois, a sting operation has landed two men with a decade-long stint in federal prison for their crimes against children; each admitted to trying to lure a teen girl for sexual purposes, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Timmy Wayne Smith, 59, and Joseph Randall Edmaiston, 37, fell into the clutches of law enforcement when they each took the bait—an online profile of a 15-year-old that was in reality controlled by an undercover agent.
The successful undercover investigation led by the FBI, which kicked off in August 2020, saw an agent pose as an underage girl online and both Smith and Edmaiston made plans to engage in illicit acts with who they believed was a minor that they were apprehended by police when they showed up for a sexual rendezvous in Marion, Illinois, as reported by the Justice Department. "Although both men fully intended to sexually abuse a child, they were apprehended by law enforcement after interacting online with a purported 15-year-old girl who was actually an undercover agent," stated U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe in a release detailing the sentencing.
Acting Special Agent in Charge Shannon Fontenot of the FBI's Springfield Field Office emphasized the importance of vigilance in the digital age, stating, "The ease of online interaction increases the likelihood that a predator will engage your child with the intent to harm them," according to a statement obtained by the Justice Department's official press release. Fontenot urged parents and guardians to establish safety guidelines for their children's online activities to help prevent such incidents.
The prosecution was carried out by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Casey Bloodworth and David Sanders. Following their prison sentence, they're slated to be placed under five years of supervised release each.
These convictions are part of a much larger effort, Project Safe Childhood, to crush the burgeoning epidemic of child exploitation—an initiative started by the Department of Justice in 2006, which coordinates with various levels of law enforcement to hunt down those who prey on children through the internet and to aid the young victims caught in this vile net. For more details on the case and Project Safe Childhood, visit the U.S. Attorney’s Office's official announcement.
