Fayetteville Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Sex Trafficking of a 16 Year Old

          Fayetteville - Kenneth Elser, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Gregory Lynnell Gibson, age 23, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, was sentenced to 144 months in prison without the possibility of parole and ten years of supervised release for one count of Sex Trafficking of Children. He was also ordered to pay a $4,900.00 fine.  The sentencing took place before the Honorable Timothy L. Brooks in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.

            In January, 2014, detectives with the Springdale Police Department were notified that a 16 year old runaway (“Jane Doe”) was at a hotel in Springdale working as a prostitute for Gibson.  Officers confirmed that Gibson had rented two rooms there and made contact with a sixteen year old female who confirmed that she was working for Gibson as a prostitute.  She told officers that she had known Gibson since the 8^th grade and recently reconnected with him via Facebook.  She said Gibson had convinced her to quit school and offered to split the proceeds from her prostitution with her 50/50, however, she stated she gave all of her money from her prostitution to Gibson.  A search of Gibson’s phone revealed text messages relating to sixteen year old female’s prostitution detailing prices, time limits, and specific sex acts.  There were also text messages on the phone relating to prostitution dating back to November, 2013 with other individuals in addition to the sixteen year old female, as well as messages between Gibson and the sixteen year old female discussing the fact that she was under the age of 18.  Gibson pled guilty to the charge in August, 2015.

            This case was investigated by the Springdale Police Department, the Fort Smith Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).  Assistant United States Attorney Aaron Jennen prosecuted the case for the United States.

            The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and their Criminal Division Child Exploitation and Obscenity Sections (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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Related court documents may be found on Public Access to Electronic Records Website @www.Pacer.gov