A Crawford County, Missouri man has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to grooming and illegal sexual contact with a minor. Nathaniel Rod Gibson, 34, entered his plea on Wednesday before the U.S. District Court in St. Louis.
Gibson admitted to one count of travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and one count of coercion and enticement of a minor. According to court documents, he provided the victim with a phone and exchanged more than 18,996 text messages with her between March 10, 2023, and September 6, 2023. He instructed the victim to delete flirtatious and inappropriate messages so they would not be discovered by her mother.
In June 2023, Gibson drove the victim from Missouri to a campground in Arkansas where he engaged in an illegal sex act with her. He also committed similar acts at his home in Crawford County.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 15. The charge of travel with intent carries a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison, while coercion and enticement of a minor carries up to 20 years.
The case was investigated by the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, Diamond City (Arkansas) Police Department, and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse by coordinating efforts among federal, state, and local agencies. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
