An Oklahoma City man accused of traveling to Colorado to pick up a teenager and bring her to Oklahoma for sex pleaded guilty in federal court last week.
Mark Avery Sumpter, 43, was accused of engaging in sexually explicit communication with a 13-year-old girl in Colorado via chathour.com, Skype, and Kik, before arranging to pick her up and bring her back with him to Oklahoma City this summer.
In late June, Oklahoma City police notified the FBI that they had discovered the whereabouts of an endangered runaway reported missing to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office in Colorado. They traced social media accounts to an IP address at an Oklahoma City apartment, and when officers arrived, they found Sumpter and the missing girl.
A criminal complaint unsealed in federal court the following month accused Sumpter of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, a violation of 18 U.S.C. � 2423, which deals with the transportation of minors for criminal sexual activity and foreign and domestic travel to engage in sex with minors.
Last week, Sumpter pleaded guilty to the federal charges. He admitted that he traveled out of state to pick up the girl for the purpose of beginning a sexual relationship with her. Both Sumpter and the girl admitted that they engaged in sexual activity during the trip back to Oklahoma and at Sumpter's apartment after their arrival.
When he is sentenced in approximately 90 days, Sumpter faces a minimum of 10 years to life in prison. He will be required to register for life as a sex offender.
Transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity is a federal felony:
A person who knowingly transports an individual who has not attained the age of 18 years in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any commonwealth, territory or possession of the United States, with intent that the individual engage in prostitution, or in any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not less than 10 years or for life. 18 U.S. Code � 2423(a).
Note that federal law prohibits not only the act of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors, but transporting a minor with the intent to do so, even if the act is not ultimately accomplished.
Federal law also prohibits travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. Had Sumpter traveled to Colorado to have sex with the girl, but not transported her back to Oklahoma, he still would have faced federal charges. Under 18 U.S. Code � 2423(b), travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct is punishable by a maximum of 30 years in prison.
