A Texas man learned his fate in the United States District Court of Western Arkansas in Fort Smith after pleading guilty to a count of Transportation of a Minor with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity. According to United States Attorney Kenneth Elser, 47-year-old William Thomas Hammond of Cleburne was sentenced by Chief Judge P.K. Holmes III to 15 2/3 years in federal prison followed by ten years of supervised release.
According to the plea agreement, Hammond began an online relationship with a 14-year-old Mount Judea female in the Spring of 2015, and conversations of a sexual nature were included. In April of last year, Hammond traveled from his residence to Harrison, rented a hotel room for several days and engaged in sexual intercourse with the minor after he picked her up at her residence. He drove to Mount Judea nearly a month afterward, picked up the minor and took her back to his residence in Texas. Three days later, Hammond was stopped by a Newton County deputy and was found to be traveling with the minor. The child said in an interview Hammond picked her up in Arkansas, took her to Texas and engaged in sexual intercourse with her on several occasions before bringing her back to the Natural State.
Hammond was indicted after the case was brought before a federal grand jury in December by Assistant United States Attorney Denis Dean, and he ended up pleading guilty in May 2016. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Newton County Sheriff’s Office.
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