CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A local man was sentenced to federal prison Tuesday for child exploitation charges after contacting an undercover FBI agent posing as a 15-year-old girl.
According to a US Department of Justice press release, Kevin Figueroa, 33, received a concurrent 10-year jail sentence on each count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity and attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor. Figueroa was also ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release following his release from jail in addition to an additional 30 months in prison for removing or destroying evidence to obstruct a search or seizure.
According to the press release, Figuroa was indicted in April 2022 after contacting an FBI agent who was posing as a 15-year-old girl while using a popular dating app. Figueroa continued to message the agent, even after confirming the person was a minor, and sent a lewd photo and messages before exchanging phone numbers with the agent. In later communications, Figueroa offered to meet with the agent to engage in sexual activity and arranged a meeting in November 2019, for which Figueroa failed to show.
Using a different dating app the following month, Figueroa started a conversation with the agent and carried on with what he thought was the same girl. In order to conduct sexual activities, a second meeting was subsequently planned for March 17, 2020, at an apartment complex in Clarksville. FBI officers awaited Figueroa when he arrived at the meeting spot.
Figueroa realized that FBI investigators were going to seize his phone and secretly erased apps while they were questioning him.
Figueroa was found guilty of the charges after a bench trial before Chief U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr., in September 2022.
This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Monica R. Morrison and Robert E. McGuire.