Missouri man sentenced for enticing a minor for sex, following ICE HSI, joint law enforcement partner, investigation

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Raytown, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for enticing a 15-year-old victim to engage in illegal sexual activity following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), joint law enforcement partner, investigation.

Nathaniel Hibdon, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Hibdon to pay a $5,000 special assessment under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. Hibdon will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison and will be subject to federal and state sex offender registration requirements, which may apply throughout his life.

On Sept. 2, 2021, Hibdon pleaded guilty to one count of enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Hibdon admitted that he met the 15-year-old victim on the Grindr application and communicated with him via Facebook Messenger. On at least two occasions in September 2018, Hibdon traveled to Kansas City, Kansas, to pick up the minor victim and bring him to Missouri to engage in illegal sexual activity. Law enforcement was alerted by a series of CyberTips made by Facebook to the Western Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Barnes. It was investigated by HSI and the Western Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood and Internet safety education (click the Resources tab), please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

HSI is a directorate of ICE and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 special agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Learn more about HSI’s mission to combat narcotics in your community @HSIKansasCity.