El Paso Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Attempted Coercion of a Minor

EL PASO, Texas – An El Paso man was sentenced in a federal court in El Paso to 10 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for attempted coercion and enticement and attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor.

According to court documents, James Forrest Williams Kidd, 33, initiated a conversation with a social media profile depicting a teenage girl in late October 2022. Under the belief that he was chatting with a 13-year-old, Kidd requested nude photos of the user and invited her to his apartment to engage in various sexual acts. Additionally, Kidd sent a pornographic photo and video over the app. On the night of Dec. 29, 2022, Kidd arranged for the minor to be picked up and taken to his residence via a rideshare app using his account. FBI agents announced themselves at Kidd’s door and arrested him.

Kidd pleaded guilty on Aug. 25, 2023 to one count of attempted coercion and enticement and one count of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor.

“This defendant intended to lure a 13-year-old girl to his home for sexual activity using a social networking app and will now spend a decade in prison for it,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “I commend the FBI for their efforts in identifying and apprehending a dangerous predator before he could harm a child in our community.”

“The FBI El Paso's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking task force is committed to protecting the children of our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge John S. Morales for the FBI El Paso Field Office. “This defendant will spend the next 10 years in federal prison for criminal intentions he fully intended to act on to meet a minor for a sexual encounter and sharing obscene material with the minor in the process. Our community can rest easy knowing this man will be behind bars in a federal prison.”

The FBI investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Osterberg prosecuted 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 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.

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