Clinton County man knew he ‘could get in trouble’ for sex with teen, court records say
A Damiansville man was sentenced to more than 12 yeas in federal prison for enticing a minor for sex.
Paul L. Jansen, 26, was sentenced Wednesday in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois on counts of enticement and attempting to entice. After his release, he will serve an additional 15 years of supervised release and pay fines and assessment fees totaling $600.
According to the stipulation of facts filed with the court, Jansen attempted to coerce two females he knew where under 18 years of age to engage in sexual activity.
Jansen used his cell phone and the internet to contact the victims between October 27, 2017 and November 25, 2018, according to court documents.
In one instance, he arranged a meeting over Facebook Messenger with 14-year-old girl at the Public Library in Carlyle and, later, to a Pizza Hut. The girl’s younger brother was with them. No sexual contact occurred, but text messages leading up to the meetings included explicit details of Jansen’s intent, court documents say.
In the fall of 2018, court documents say, Jansen contacted another 14-year-old female through Snapchat and Instagram that “led to several secret face-to-face meetings in a parking lot of a high school near (the victim’s) home in St. Clair County...”
Those meetings resulted in sexual contact, the victim said in an interview with the Child Advocacy Center, the court records state.
Jansen admitting knowing the victim’s age and “that her parents probably would not have allowed her to go out with him because of the age difference between them,” according to the stipulation of facts. He also admitted that he engaged in sex acts with her and that they could “get in trouble” if the relationship was discovered.
The case was prosecuted as pat of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative launched by the Department Justice in 2006 to combat child exploitation and abuse.
Victims of sexual abuse can get help by calling 800-656-HOPE (4673). Calls are routed based on the area code to a local provider who can help victims get medical treatment, counseling and contact with law enforcement.
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 2:25 PM.
