Davenport man convicted of enticement of minor
On June 21, Auston McLain, 38, of Davenport, was found guilty by a federal jury of one count of attempted enticement of a minor and one count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual activity, according to a news release.
Over two days of trial before Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah Darrow, the United States presented evidence establishing that from Nov. 10, 2020, through Nov. 14, 2020, McLain communicated with an individual he believed to be a minor about engaging in sexual activity, sent pornographic pictures to the person he believed was a minor, asked for pictures, and then traveled from Iowa to Illinois with the intent to meet with the child and engage in sexual activity, officials allege. Federal law enforcement agents arrested him when he arrived at the meeting location, the release says.
Sentencing for McLain has been scheduled for Oct. 18 at the U.S. Courthouse in Peoria. At sentencing, McLain faces statutory penalties of 10 years to life imprisonment, a possible fine of $250,000, and a five-year to life term of supervised release for attempted enticement and up to 30 years imprisonment, a possible $250,000 fine, and a five-year to life term of supervised release for traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual activity, court records say. He also must register as a sex offender.
McLain has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest, the release says.
The prosecution was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office, with the assistance of the Rock Island Police Department, the Macomb Police Department, the East Moline Police Department, and the Illinois State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tanner Jacobs and Matthew Weir represented the United States at trial.
The case against McLain was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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, visit here.
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