Date: 03-20-2025

Case Style:

United States of America v. Carlan Travis Penney Jr.

Case Number:

Judge:

Court: The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

Plaintiff's Attorney: The United States Attorney’s Office for St. Louis

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description:

St. Louis, Missouri criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with coercion and enticement or a minor and transportation of a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in illegal sexual activity.
Georgia Man Accused of Sex Charges Involving Missouri Teen

An underage Missouri girl has been rescued from a Georgia man accused of child sex crimes.

Carlan Travis Penney Jr., 46, was charged by complaint on March 7 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis with coercion and enticement or a minor and transportation of a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in illegal sexual activity. He was arrested the next day in Georgia and indicted on those same charges by a grand jury Wednesday.

Charging documents say the teen’s family alerted the local sheriff’s office when she went missing, and the sheriff’s office contacted the FBI. FBI special agents learned that the teen had been in contact with Penney, who had rented a car to drive to the teen’s home to pick her up and bring her to Georgia, charging documents say. When Penney arrived in Missouri to pick up the teen, he was masked and told the victim he had a firearm in case she turned out to be a law enforcement officer, charging documents say. After her phone and another mobile device were smashed, he took her to Georgia, the documents say. Penney always used cash and always wore gloves during stops on the trip, the documents say. Penney also made threatening statements about “snitches getting snitches” and frequently raised the topic of murder, the documents say.

Investigators found her at a home belonging to Penney’s family, the documents say. The victim told the FBI that after she’d met Penney via a “chat site,” he turned their conversation toward sex and sent her pictures of his genitals, the documents say.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

“The victim was rescued quickly because of partnerships. After the FBI became aware, the minor was found in 24 hours hundreds of miles from her home,” said Special Agent in Charge Ashley Johnson of the FBI St. Louis Division. “We thank all the various agencies that immediately helped at all hours of the night. Special thanks to the Worth County and Crisp County Sheriff’s Offices that recovered the girl safely after an hour-long standoff with the subject."

The FBI’s St. Louis Division, FBI Atlanta’s Albany Resident Agency, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Worth County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office and the Crisp County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is prosecuting the case.

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

Outcome:

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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Defendant's Experts:

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