Belleville man gets federal sentence for enticing Georgia teen for sex, recording it
A Belleville man was sentenced in a federal court Thursday for having sex with a Georgia teenager and recording it with his cellphone.
Larry Hale, 52, had pleaded guilty in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, and another of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Judge Stephen McGlynn sentenced Hale to 15 years in a federal prison.
According to court documents, Hale traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to bring the then 16-year old girl back to a residence in the 400 block of Mitchell Lane in Belleville in February of 2020. The two had met on an internet dating site about a year prior, Hale admitted to the court.
Hale lived in the basement of the home while his sister-in-law and nephew lived upstairs, according to court records. Witnesses told police about the teenage girl when officers were dispatched to Hale’s home on a well-being check on July 3, 2020.
“Officers were informed that witnesses in the area had noticed an unfamiliar female juvenile staying at the residence for the past few months,” according to Belleville Police at the time of Hale’s arrest. “The witnesses said the juvenile had been seen on multiple occasions with one of the adult male occupants” of a residence there.
Police then discovered that the girl was listed as a runaway in the state of Georgia, police said. Hale was arrested and taken to the Belleville jail.
The Belleville News-Democrat does not publish the names of victims of sex crimes or juvenile victims.
According to an account in a Georgia newspaper, the girl had been reported missing on Feb. 15. Her mother told police her daughter left home without permission in the middle of the night, either February 12 or 13.
She had her white and brown dog and a burgundy rolling suitcase with pink spirals with her.
In a sworn statement to investigators, Hale admitted to picking the girl up in Georgia “sometime around Valentine’s Day” and brought her to Belleville.
He said the two had sex once or twice a week over several months. He said on Feb. 15, he enticed the girl to have sex with him while he recorded the act with his Apple iPhone.
The girl was taken into custody of Child Protective Services and returned to her family.
“Sex crimes against children are particularly disturbing, and Larry Hale deliberately preyed on a vulnerable child after meeting her on an online dating site,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe. “His sentence reflects the severity of his crimes, and I applaud the efforts by many to remove this predator from our community.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2023 at 3:07 PM.