This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Arkansas, Eastern), published as received.
LITTLE ROCK—Dillon McKinney will spend the next 180 months in federal prison for attempted enticement of a minor. Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the sentence, which was handed down today, by United States District Judge James M. Moody, Jr.
On September 3, 2025, McKinney, 31, of Newbern, Tennessee, was indicted by a federal grand jury in a one-count Indictment charging him with attempted enticement of as minor. On June 3, 2026, McKinney pleaded guilty to Indictment. Judge Moody also sentenced McKinney to five years’ supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
On June 19, 2025, the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office and the Covenant Rescue Group conducted an underage human trafficking operation. During the operation, an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a minor female used a social media platform often used for soliciting prostitutes and made contact McKinney. Rather than continuing the conversation on the social media platform, McKinney moved the conversation to text messages where he then asked the “minor” her age. The “minor” responded to McKinney that she was 14 years old. McKinney then began telling her he wanted to arrange to meet so they could engage in sexual intercourse and in return, would give her money. McKinney traveled to the location where he believed he was going to meet the “minor” and was taken into custody by law enforcement officers.
During a post-Miranda interview, McKinney admitted to going to meet someone for sex even after learning she was 14 years old. McKinney also acknowledged the multiple text messages between him and who he believed was a minor. Officers observed in the text messages that McKinney agreed to pay the “minor” a set monetary amount for specific sexual acts.
McKinney’s criminal history includes felony convictions for aggravated burglary, arson, burglary, and statutory rape.
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 and led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), it 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc. Parents are encouraged to always monitor your children’s online activity.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office and the Covenant Rescue Group. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Eldridge, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
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