A Houston man, Lee Finch, II, 49, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced to 180 months in federal custody for Coercion and Enticement of a Minor and Traveling with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct.
The U.S. District Judge John F. Heil, III, handed down the sentence on September 13, 2023, after Finch pleaded guilty to the federal charges on the same day. The sentence also includes a lifetime of supervised release, during which Finch will be required to register as a sex offender.
According to court records, Finch began coercing and abusing the 12-year-old victim in June 2016 during “sleepovers” at his house. The abuse continued in September 2016, when Finch moved to Houston, Texas, and would travel back to Tulsa to have sexual intercourse with the minor. The abuse persisted for over a year, even after the minor victim relocated back to Tulsa and continued through sexually explicit text messages that corresponded with flight records back to Tulsa.
Finch’s abuse was only discovered when the minor victim’s mother found the text messages in April 2018. She reported the sexually explicit messages to the Tulsa Police Department (TPD). Despite a no-contact order, Finch continued to contact the minor victim and encouraged them to lie to law enforcement about their “relationship.” Finch was previously charged with a state charge of Using a Computer to Violate Oklahoma Statutes and sentenced to five years in the custody of the Department of Corrections, with all time suspended.
The Homeland Security Investigations and Tulsa Police Department investigated the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Dunn prosecuting the case. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.
Finch will remain in custody pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The full extent of the abuse was revealed in April 2021, when the minor victim disclosed the full extent of their “relationship” with Finch, including being dishonest with law enforcement and fully believing they were in a “relationship.”
Related Federal Cases
- Thompson, 77, Faces Prison for Sex Offender Registration Failures · Oklahoma
- Houston Man Sentenced to 180 Months for Sexually Abusing 12-Year-Old · Oklahoma
- Whelchel Sentenced for Sex Offender Registration Violation · Oklahoma
- Fort Yates Man Guilty of Sex Abuse · Oklahoma
- Conroe Man Gets Life for Transporting Minor · Oklahoma
Key Facts
- State: Oklahoma
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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