A 50-year-old sex offender was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison for pimping a 15-year-old girl he met online, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Federal prosecutors say the two met in June 2010 after the girl answered an Internet ad posted by Timothy Lyle Chappell offering a free room. The teen, who lived with her aunt but was contemplating running away, contacted Chappell and the two began talking by phone. At the same time, prosecutors say, the Conley man began posting notices online offering the girl's services as a prostitute.
Over a period of two days, the teen had sex with Chappell and with two johns he had procured, the U.S. Attorney charged.
The suspect and victim's conversations continued even after Chappell, convicted in 2000 for molesting two children, was jailed in Cobb County on a probation violation. According to the criminal complaint, Cobb deputies noticed that the person Chappell was talking to sounded like a young girl. Investigators went to her home after they overheard the suspect on the phone providing a friend with the girl's address. The case was turned over to the FBI.
Chappell was sentenced to 20 years and three years of supervised release on charges of enticing a minor to engage in prostitution and transporting and harboring a minor for prostitution. His previous conviction added to the sentence, prosecutors said, which includes three years of supervised release.
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