Columbia City man sentenced to 35 years for sexual exploitation of teen

IL file photo

A Columbia City man already registered as a sex offender faces 35 years in federal prison after he was convicted of contacting a teenager online and convincing the child to meet with him in person for sexual contact.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Holly Brady sentenced Joel McClure, 38,  after he pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child.

Acting U.S. Attorney M. Scott Proctor announced McClure was sentenced to 300 months in prison for the count of sexual exploitation and a consecutive term of 120 months imprisonment for committing that offense while being a registered sex offender, for a total sentence of 420 months, followed by five years of supervised release.

According to court documents, McClure used the internet to solicit a 14-year-old girl to produce and send him child sexual abuse material, which he then shared with others on the internet.

McClure then lured the child to meet with him in person and provided her vape pens and THC gummies in exchange for sexual contact.

He was a registered sex offender at the time of this offense, having previously been convicted of an offense against children in Texas.

“Joel McClure is a sexual predator of the worst kind,” Proctor said in a released statement.  “He abused a child in Texas, was convicted of that crime, and was required to register as a sex offender.  Yet those severe consequences failed to deter him from ensnaring another child in his web of lies and then exploiting that child for his own perverse gratification.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Allen County Sheriff’s Department/FBI Task Force with assistance from the Cook County (Illinois) Sheriff’s Department, the Schaumburg (Illinois) Police Department, the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department, the Indiana State Police, the Whitley County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Cook County (Illinois) Prosecutor’s Office.