Winslow Man Sentenced To 10 Years In Federal Prison For Attempted Enticement Of A Minor

Fayetteville, Arkansas – David Clay Fowlkes, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Jay Edward Thompson, age 43, of Winslow, Arkansas, was sentenced today to 120 months in federal prison without the possibility of parole followed by five years of supervised release on one count of Attempted Enticement of a Minor to Engage in Illegal Sexual Activity. The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks, United States District Judge, presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.

According to court records, In September 2019, the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Arkansas State Police, and local law enforcement, set up an operation to target online predators in Northwest Arkansas. As part of the operation, undercover law enforcement investigators placed multiple advertisements on various online websites and mobile applications.

On September 25, 2019, an undercover investigator (UC), posing as a 13-year-old minor female, was contacted by Thompson after he responded to one of the advertisements using his email address.  The following day, Thompson arranged to meet with the UC and was taken into custody.

Thompson was indicted in November 2019 and was found guilty by a federal jury sitting in Fayetteville, Arkansas on March 3, 2020.

This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the Benton County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Carly Marshall, Assistant United States Attorney Amy Driver and Assistant United States Attorney Dustin Roberts prosecuted the case for the United States.