Iowa Man Who Used Facebook Messenger to Entice a 12-Year-Old for Sexual Activity Sentenced to Federal Prison

A man who sought out and enticed a 12-year-old for sexual activity was sentenced on May 7, 2021, to 14 years in federal prison.

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.  After attempting to convince the child to send sexual images of themself, Landrum eventually convinced the child to go his bedroom with him where he admits he intended to engage in sexual activity with the child.  DNA testing confirmed the presence of sperm cells closely matching Landrum’s in the child’s underwear.            

Landrum was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Landrum was sentenced to 168 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a 6-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Landrum is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was 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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