Man Walked Over 350 Miles To Meet Underage Girl, Meets Undercover Cop Instead

Tommy Lee Jenkins, 32, walked 351 miles from his home in Indiana to Wisconsin to have sex with a 14-year-old girl, only to meet and be arrested by an undercover cop.

Jenkins is being held by the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, and is facing charges of using a computer to persuade, induce, or entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity.

NBC News reports that Jenkins began corresponding with “Kylee,” a fake account made by a Winnebago County Sheriff’s Deputy, on Oct. 1. According to the criminal complaint against him, Jenkins sent the account lewd pictures and claimed in a text message that the two would “have 500 kids before we are with GOD.”

After failing to convince the account he believed to be a teenage girl to send him explicit photos or visit him in person, Jenkins set off walking to her supposed location in Neenah, Wisconsin. He began from Whitestown, 30 miles northwest of Indianapolis, occasionally riding a bus or biking to break up the walking.

Jenkins now faces at least 10 years in prison with the possibility of a life sentence. He has in the past been accused of sexually assaulting children after two children, 7 and 8, accused him of touching them inappropriately and threatening to hurt them if they told anyone.

Jenkins denied the allegations but eventually pleaded no contest on four counts of child abuse and was sentenced to four years of probation.