Knoxville Man Sentenced To 15 Years For Enticement Of A Child

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - On August 22, 2024, Dominique J. Starr, 29, currently of Knoxville, Tennessee, was sentenced to 180 months imprisonment by the Honorable Thomas A. Varlan, United States District Judge, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville. Following his incarceration, Starr will be on supervised release for twenty years and will be required to register with state sex offender registries and comply with special sex offender conditions during his supervised release.

As part of the plea agreement filed with the court, Starr agreed to plead guilty to an information charging him with one count of enticement of a child in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b).

According to documents filed with the court, in October 2022, Starr began communicating online with a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) undercover agent in Portland, Oregon, whom Starr believed to be a 13-year-old female. Starr solicited nude photos and sex from the purported minor on several occasions over a period of many months. Starr also threatened to stalk, kidnap, and rape the purported minor. During the investigation, undercover agents from two other FBI offices reported contact with Starr after he solicited nude photos and discussed meeting them for sex. The FBI obtained search warrants for social media accounts associated with Starr which showed Starr was in contact with approximately 47 other purported minors ranging in age from 9 years old to 17 years old.

U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III of the Eastern District of Tennessee and FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico made the announcement.

The criminal information was the result of an investigation by the FBI. This investigation was led by FBI Special Agent Jason Stewart.

Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Kolman represented the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006, by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney's Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab "resources."

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