Eldon Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Child Sexual Exploitation

An 37-year old man from Eldon was recently sentenced in federal court for traveling to North Carolina on five occasions to engage in illicit sexual activity with a child victim over a two-year period.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says James Anthony Guthrie, III was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole.

On Nov. 27, 2018, Guthrie reportedly pleaded guilty to one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, admitting that he traveled to North Carolina on five occasions for work and, while there, met the then-15-year-old child victim at various hotels for sex.

Guthrie further admitted to picking up the victim from school or at her house; once, the victim’s father brought her to the hotel. No further information was available about the victim's father.

According to court documents, Guthrie met the child victim online when she was 14-years old. Authorities say he engaged in sexual communications with her and groomed her by sending gifts, including jewelry, a cellular telephone, food delivery, a life-size teddy bear, shopping trips and nights in a hotel room. Guthrie allegedly manipulated the child victim and exploited the fact that others had abused her.

He also admitted to communicating about sexual matters with the victim and received pornographic images and videos from her.

Investigators examined Guthrie’s laptop, hard drive and DVD-R disks, which contained images of child pornography. Guthrie also admitted to communicating with other individuals he believed to be minors in a sexual manner, and to receiving self-produced pornographic images from 13-to-14-year-old children.