Logan County Preacher Indicted for Transporting a Minor Across State Lines to Have Sex

BOWLING GREEN, KY—A federal grand jury in Bowling Green returned an indictment against Jody Dewain Lusk, age 35, of Auburn, Kentucky, in Logan County, on charges of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sex, United States Attorney David J. Hale of the Western District of Kentucky announced today.

The Indictment alleges that between September 3, 2009, and September 5, 2009, Lusk transported a person under 18 in interstate commerce for the purpose of having sex with that person.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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.projectsafechildhood.gov.

In the event of a conviction, the maximum potential penalties are life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and supervised release for life; and the minimum potential penalties are 10 years’ imprisonment and supervised release for a period of 5 years.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Weiser, and it was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Logan County Sheriff’s Department.

Lusk is scheduled to appear for arraignment before the United States Magistrate Judge on April 21, 2010, at 10:00 a.m., in Bowling Green, Kentucky.