A federal jury convicted a Missouri man on one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, after he was arrested in an undercover operation.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Steven Spradley, 58, of Kansas City, Missouri, traveled from Jackson County, Missouri, to Osage County, Kansas, in July 2021 to have sex with whom he believed to be a 17-year-old girl he met online. Spradley was actually communicating with an investigator from the Osage County Sheriff’s Office posing as a minor.
The Osage County Sheriff’s Office is part of the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task
Force. Spradley faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.