William Charles Ellis, Child Enticement, Tennessee 2023

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – A local man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.

William Charles Ellis, 51, of Jonesborough, was sentenced by the Honorable R. Leon Jordan in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville.

According to court documents, Ellis used an online dating application to communicate with a person he believed to be a 15-year-old minor female in August 2019. The ‘minor female’ was actually an FBI agent working an online covert investigation.

Ellis sent sexually explicit photos to the minor and requested that she send sexually explicit photos and videos to him. The FBI identified Ellis, obtained a search warrant for his cellular phone, and questioned him. During questioning, Ellis admitted to communicating with a person he believed to be an underage female and asking her to send him pornographic videos.

The FBI searched Ellis’ phone and found numerous files containing child pornography.

Ellis pleaded guilty to enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). He was sentenced to 120 months in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release. Ellis will be required to register with state sex offender registries and comply with special sex offender conditions during his supervised release.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

Assistant United States Attorney Emily Swecker represented the United States in this case.

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