Former Jackson police officer sentenced to prison over involvement with 16-year-old

[TexasTowelie]

A former Jackson police officer has been sentenced to prison for destroying evidence of his involvement with a 16-year-old , the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement Friday.

U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee sentenced former Jackson police officer Mark Anthony Coleman, 58, to 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Coleman attempted to coerce a child under the age of 18 via cellphone to meet with him "for the purpose of engaging in sexually explicit conduct," according to court records. Prosecutors say he later destroyed evidence of his involvement with the teen.

The police department placed Coleman on administrative leave in May 2020 for conduct unbecoming of an officer.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury in July of 2020, and pleaded guilty in January 2021.

Read more: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2021/04/30/jackson-police-officer-sentenced-prison-involvement-teen/4895198001/

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Mississippi age of consent is 16, so how and when did this guy become federal? Across state lines...

using the phone, destroying evidence, "coercion"?

Not condoning what he did, and he more'n likely should be fired, but jailed?

[qazplm135]

2. when you use a cellphone to commit a crime

that pretty much gives the Feds the hook to say it involves interstate transit, same with the internet.

I agree it's curious why it rose to the level of a federal prosecution. There must be something that got the feds interested and involved other than what's reported.

Age of consent for feds is 18 so you play with 16-18 at your peril.

Case in point, let's say you have sex with a 16 year old in a state where the age of consent is 16. OK, that's legal, gross but legal.

Now, say she sends you a naked pic of her breasts, or you take a pic of her while you are having sex.
Welp, that's child pornography and that's a federal crime since 18 is the minimum age.

I think we do need to standardized age of consent. Make it all 18 everywhere. Have the three year rule so that a high school senior isn't a registered sex offender because his birthday comes a few days before his girlfriend's birthday (although I'd be fine if it were only 1 or 2 years).

But right now, we have too much variation in what is and isn't a crime in dealing with 16 and 17 year old's. We can do it with alcohol, voting, and whatnot, we should be able to do it with sexual consent.