TEXARKANA, ARKANSAS – A Hope, Arkansas, man was sentenced on October 19, 2023, to 300 months in federal prison, with credit for time served on a related state court conviction, for using the internet to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. The Honorable Judge Susan O. Hickey, Chief United States District Judge, announced the sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.
According to court documents, Jonathan Tyrell Haney, age 36, used the online social media service “Badoo” to entice a 12-year-old Ashley County girl to meet him for sexual intercourse. The victim disappeared from her mother’s home in April 2021, reappearing alone the next day at a Columbia County gas station. Haney’s DNA was later found on the victim’s clothing. Haney was apprehended near Sulphur Springs, Texas, the same day the victim was found, after learning that Arkansas authorities were looking for him.
Upon completing his prison sentence, Haney will be supervised by the United States Probation Office for the next 20 years. He is also required to register as a sex offender.
U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes, of the Western District of Arkansas, made the announcement.
The Crossett, Arkansas, Police Department, Magnolia, Arkansas, Police Department, Hopkins County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham Jones prosecuted the case for the United States.
This case was prosecuted 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 CEOS, 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.
