FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 19, 2012
WAYNE COUNTY WOMAN SENTENCED TO PRISON TIME FOR FEDERAL SEX OFFENDER VIOLATION
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that a Wayne County woman was sentenced to one year in federal prison, along with ten years of supervised release for failing to update her sex offender registration as required under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“the Act”). Tammy L. Payton, 42, of Crum, Wayne County, W.Va., previously pleaded guilty in August. Payton was required to update her registration as a sex offender as a result of being convicted on July 11, 2001, in the Court of Common Pleas, Lawrence County, Ohio of complicity to commit rape and kidnapping. Her offenses involved a minor child who was under 13 years of age.
Payton admitted that she traveled in interstate commerce from Ohio to West Virginia at sometime between July 2007 and August 2007, and then began living in Crum, W.Va. Payton further admitted that she knowingly failed to update her sex offender registration in West Virginia as required by the Act.
The United States Marshals Service and the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Lisa Johnston handled the prosecution. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.
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 http://www.justice.gov/usao/wvs/PSCpage.html. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and follow the link named “Resources.”
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