Iowa Man Who Used Facebook Messenger to Entice a 12-Year-Old for Sexual Activity Pleads Guilty in Federal Court

A man who sought out and enticed a 12-year-old for sexual activity pled guilty today in federal court in Sioux City.

Nathan Landrum, age 40, from Carnarvon, IA, was convicted of enticement of a minor.

In a plea agreement, Landrum admitted that in April 2020, using Facebook Messenger, he knowingly enticed a 12-year-old child to his apartment for sexual activity.  Landrum brought the child to his bedroom where he intended to engage in sexual activity with the child.  

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Landrum remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Landrum faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ron Timmons and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Sac County Sheriff’s Office. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 20-4046.

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