A Virginia man was sentenced Friday to 15 years in federal prison for attempted sex trafficking of a minor.
According to court documents, Jamie Otis Southern, 50, of Tazewell County, Virginia, previously pleaded guilty and admitted in June 2020 he contacted a woman on Craigslist who identified herself as a mother who would allow him to have sex with her children in exchange for money.
During the conversation, Southern arranged to have the woman travel from Beckley to a hotel in Princeton with the 11- and 14-year-old girls the woman stated were her daughters. Southern would then pay approximately $400 plus the cost of the hotel room in order to engage in oral sex and sexual intercourse with the children.
Southern further admitted that in July 2020 he possessed images and videos of suspected child pornography on an SD card in his cell phone.
Upon release from prison, Southern will be placed on federal supervised release for a period of 15 years and be required to register as a sex offender.
Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
United States District Judge Frank W. Volk imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald handled the prosecution.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
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