Wisconsin child predator sentenced in Iowa to 30 years in federal prison for enticing minor online

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A western Wisconsin man, who illegally enticed a minor to engage in sexual activity, was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to 30 years in federal prison for his crime.

This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Iowa sheriff’s offices of Grundy and Black Hawk counties, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, and the La Crosse (Wisconsin) Police Department.

Carson Sibley, 26, from La Crosse, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand to 360 months in federal prison on one count of enticing a minor. There is no parole in the federal justice system.

At the plea hearing, Sibley admitted that, in 2017, he persuaded a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.  Information from the sentencing hearing showed that Sibley met minors while playing online video games.  Sibley then communicated with these minors, sometimes while pretending to be female, to entice the minors into sending him sexually explicit pictures and videos.  Sibley also twice travelled to Grundy County while hoping to have sex with a minor. 

Sibley was still on probation following his previous conviction for child pornography offenses at the time he was enticing minors in this case.

Sibley is being held in U.S. Marshals Service custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Tremmel, Northern District of Iowa.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 16,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2016, more than 2,600 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 800 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page. HSI is a founding member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.