Tennessee Man, Woman Sentenced to Nearly Six Years in Prison for Transporting a Minor to Engage in Prostitution

SPRINGFIELD, IL—A Tennessee man and woman, Jarrod S. Sanford, 31, and Jessica M. Lidy, 22, both of Friendship, Tennessee, have each been ordered to serve 71 months in federal prison for transporting a minor to engage in prostitution. U.S. District Judge Richard Mills sentenced Lidy this afternoon; Sanford was sentenced on Friday. Both have remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since they were arrested in October 2011 in Lincoln, Illinois.

In December 2011, both Lidy and Sanford pled guilty to transportation of a minor to engage in prostitution.

The charges were investigated by the Lincoln Police Department, Illinois State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance by the Logan County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris in cooperation with the Logan County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The 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 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.