Source: Office of United States Attorneys
TRENTON, N.J. – A Louisiana man was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for traveling to New Jersey for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with a minor, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.
Spencer W. Caudle, 36, of Prairieville, Louisiana, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In or around April 2023, Caudle began interacting on online social media applications with the then-14-year-old victim. Caudle’s communications with the victim were sexual in nature despite the victim informing Caudle of the victim’s minor status. Caudle even expressed nervousness about being on the show “To Catch a Predator,” but continued informing the victim of his desire to have sex with the victim. On May 26, 2023, Caudle drove from Louisiana to meet and have sex with the victim in Toms River, New Jersey the following day. On May 27, 2023, Caudle, in fact, committed sexual acts on the victim. Later that night, Caudle left New Jersey to drive back to Louisiana.
Local law enforcement became aware of Caudle’s prohibited sexual activity with the victim and began an investigation. In June 2023, an undercover law enforcement officer assumed the victim’s online and cellular presence and communicated with Caudle. During these conversations, Caudle confirmed his prior sexual acts with the victim and expressed a desire for further sexual activity. While communicating with the undercover officer, Caudle made plans to return to New Jersey to commit additional sexual acts on the victim. On June 16, 2023, Caudle flew from Louisiana to New Jersey, and law enforcement arrested him upon his arrival at the Newark Liberty International Airport.
U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel; the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer; and the Toms River Police Department, under the direction of Police Chief Peter Sundack, with the investigation.
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.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard G. Shephard of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Trenton.
###