GREENVILLE, MS — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)), published as received.
GREENVILLE, MS – Terry DeWayne Macon, 29, of Grand Junction, Tennessee was sentenced today to 360 months in prison by Chief United States District Judge Debra M. Brown for transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sex. He had been found guilty by a federal jury in December 2025.
Additionally, his jail sentence will be followed by 5 years of supervised release. He will be required to register as a sex offender.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Macon met a Mississippi teen online in July of 2024. Over the next month, Macon drove from Tennessee to Mississippi on three occasions where he picked up the minor and returned with her to Tennessee. Macon later admitted that he had engaged in sex acts with the minor. At the time of the transport and sex acts, Macon was 27 years old, and the victim was 14 years old.
Members of Mississippi’s FBI Child Abduction Response Team, including a Jackson RA (NV Division) CARD member and Task Force Officers, worked with Corinth Police Department and other local investigative agencies from Tennessee, located the victim with Macon at a residence in Grand Junction, Tennessee, and were able to safely return her home.
Macon was found guilty at trial on all counts of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent to engage in unlawful sexual activity. Macon was serving a term of federal supervised release at the time of the offenses. At a revocation proceeding held following the verdict, Judge Brown sentenced Macon to 24 months for the violations of release, which will run concurrent to the 30-year sentence imposed in the sex offense case.
United States Attorney Scott Leary stated, “Those who would abuse children are among the most abhorrent of criminals. To the degree that such sociopaths can receive a message, know that if you live in Mississippi our law enforcement officers will work tirelessly to hunt you down and put you in jail, which is exactly what happened in this case. Law enforcement did an amazing job in saving this child. We have true heroes working for the people of Mississippi.”
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jackson Field Office Robert Eikhoff stated, "There is no place in our communities for those who prey on children. Macon's depraved actions robbed a minor of their innocence. The FBI and our law enforcement partners remain committed to identifying, investigating, and bringing to justice every individual who seeks to exploit or abuse children. We will continue pursuing these offenders and holding them accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
Corinth Police Department Chief Landon Tucker said, “We are proud to support our federal partners and do our part to help bring this case to a successful conclusion. Thank you to the FBI, the TFO’s and the prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oxford for their time and hard work on this case.”
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie Addison and Parker King.
This 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 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 Justice.gov/PSC.
