A Jacksonville woman who repeatedly drove to East Tennessee to sexually exploit a 14-year-old has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison, authorities said.
Federal prosecutors say 27-year-old Kasey Lynn Skaggs made multiple trips from Florida to the Knoxville area to have sex with the minor. On Thursday, a judge in U.S. District Court in Knoxville ordered her to serve 63 months behind bars, followed by 15 years of supervised release. The case began after investigators discovered incriminating messages on the victim’s phone. Her husband and co-defendant had already received a much longer prison term earlier this year.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Skaggs pleaded guilty to one count of interstate travel for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct (18 U.S.C. § 2423(b)) and one count of tampering with a victim to destroy evidence (18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(2)(B)).
She was sentenced on April 30 to 63 months in federal prison and will be required to register with state sex-offender registries. After her release, she must comply with special conditions for 15 years of supervised release, the office said. Prosecutors credited an investigation by the HSI-ICAC Task Force, the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the Lenoir City Police Department.
What investigators found
Federal and local investigators say Skaggs and her husband, Jeffrey Lee Robertson, traveled from Jacksonville to the Eastern District of Tennessee three times between December 2023 and February 2024 to have sex with the 14-year-old. Agents recovered text and social-media messages on the victim’s phone that allegedly enticed the minor.
Reporting by WATE adds that the pair told the victim to delete their communications when they feared they might get caught, and that Robertson pleaded guilty earlier and was sentenced in January to 30 years in federal prison.
Legal consequences
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the prosecution was brought under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative targeting child exploitation, and that Skaggs will be subject to special sex-offender conditions designed to reduce risks to children.
Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Kolman handled the case for the government. Prosecutors said the outcome highlights ongoing cooperation among federal, state and local authorities in East Tennessee to identify and pursue online child-exploitation cases. Victim-services agencies are working alongside law enforcement to support the victim as the case’s fallout continues.
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