Lexington Man Sentenced To 150 Months For Using Internet To Attempt To Entice Minors To Engage In Sexual Activity

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Lexington man, who previously admitted to attempting to entice minors to permit him to engage in illicit sexual conduct, has been sentenced to 150 months in federal prison.           

Yesterday, Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph M. Hood sentenced Timothy Mark Poynter, II, 33, for using the Internet, with his cellular telephone, to knowingly attempt to persuade, induce, entice, and coerce a minor, to engage in sexual activity.

According to the plea agreement, Poynter previously admitted to communicating with two different undercover law enforcement agents, who both responded to an ad Poynter posted on Craigslist.com.  One undercover officer portrayed himself as the father of a 14-year old step-daughter, and the other officer posed as the mother of an 11-year old daughter.  Poynter engaged in conversations during which he indicated his interest in engaging in sexual intercourse with both of the fictitious minors.  He traveled to a meeting place in Lexington, designated by the undercover officer posing as the father, on April 26, 2017.  Poynter admitted that he was the person who had been communicating with the officer, and that those communications contained sexually explicit conversations. 

Poynter pleaded guilty to the charge in May of 2018.           

Under federal law, Poynter must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for the remainder of his life.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Steven Igyarto, Resident Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations; Rick Sanders, Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, and Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, the Electronic Crimes Branch of the Kentucky State Police, and the Cyber Crimes Branch of the Office of the Attorney General of Kentucky.  Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Marye represented the federal government in the case.