Purvis Man Sentenced for Sending Obscene Material to Minor

Mark Randy Magee, 61, of Purvis, Mississippi, is headed to federal prison after being sentenced to 10 months for transferring obscene materials to a minor under the age of 16. U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett handed down the sentence, which includes three years of supervised release and a $28,000 restitution order to the victim. Magee must also register as a sex offender—a permanent scarlet letter for a crime that crossed state lines and shattered a child’s sense of safety.

The case traces back to January 15, 2016, when a mother in Salem, Illinois, reported that her 14-year-old daughter had received graphic, sexually explicit videos on her iPad from a man identifying himself as “Randy M.” During chilling online chats, the man admitted he was 48 years old and lived in Mississippi—details that would later lead authorities straight to Magee. The messages weren’t accidental. They were deliberate, predatory, and designed to groom a child.

FBI agents moved in after digital forensics linked the transmissions to Magee’s home in Purvis. A search warrant executed on his residence yielded electronic devices packed with evidence—chat logs, timestamps, and the obscene videos sent to the Illinois teen. There was no deniability. Magee had targeted a child, exploited technology, and left a digital trail soaked in guilt.

On September 7, 2018, a federal grand jury indicted Magee on charges of transferring obscene materials to a minor. He pleaded guilty on January 31, 2019, before Judge Starrett, avoiding trial but not accountability. The conviction adds to a sordid past: Magee has a prior felony conviction from Ohio for attempting to meet a minor for unlawful sexual contact—proof this wasn’t his first strike at innocence.

The investigation was a joint operation between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, underscoring the cross-jurisdictional threat posed by online predators. Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenda R. Haynes prosecuted the case with the grim determination typical of those who fight the unseen war against child sexual exploitation.

This case was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, the DOJ’s nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to dismantle networks of child predators. With over 1,000 convictions annually, the program targets those who use the web to groom, exploit, and abuse minors. For more information, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. But for the 14-year-old in Illinois, no website can erase what was stolen—her innocence, delivered byte by byte by Mark Randy Magee.

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