LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A 33-year-old Michigan man was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison with a lifetime of supervised release by a United States district judge on Thursday for committing "numerous" sexual offenses against an Arkansas child in October 2022.
Jeremy Robert Ward of Marine City, Mich., registered as a sex offender in 2013, was found guilty on all nine counts he was indicted on: one count of interstate travel with the purpose of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity, six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of receipt of child pornography, and one count of travel with the purpose to engage in illicit sexual activity with a minor.
In 2013, Ward was previously convicted of three counts of possession of child sexually abusive material and one count of accosting a child for an immoral purpose. He is a registered sex offender in the state of Michigan.
Ward began chatting with a 12-year-old minor online via Snapchat in September 2022, exchanging messages with the victim for three weeks before attempting to travel to Arkansas to meet her.
On October 15, 2022, he met her face-to-face when he approached her in his pickup truck while riding her bike near her neighborhood in Bryant.
During her encounter with Ward, the victim began recording part of their exchange. Ward can be heard telling her, “I was hoping to take you home,” and “I just wish she [her mom] would let you go, especially since I drove all the way down here.”
Ward also told the minor that she must “think I’m gonna kidnap you or something,” to which she replied, “You probably are about to at this point.”
He later asked if she knew of any “private spots” they could go to to find a more secluded place to be alone with her.
Around this time, her father noticed that she was outside the area she was allowed to be after checking a tracking app connected to their phones.
The child's parents showed up at her location, where her father discovered her lying on the grass with Ward, whose pants were around his ankles. At this time, he fled into the woods.
The minor later testified at trial that Ward attempted to commit sexual acts with her while she was in the field with Ward.
Further investigation revealed that the victim and Ward had previously communicated through video messages, some of which Ward recorded on his phone.
The messages were recovered from Ward’s phone, which also contained child sexual abuse material.
