Missouri man headed to prison for sex meetup with “minor” who was actually an FBI agent

KANSAS CITY, KAN. - A Missouri man was sentenced to 120 months in prison after traveling across state lines to have sex with who he thought was an underaged girl but was really an undercover federal agent.

According to court documents, Tommie Earnest Giles, 53, of Kansas City, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.

On July 23, 2025, and July 24, 2025, Giles, used a social media platform to chat with a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent posing as a 14-year-old female living in Kansas. When the agent purported to be 14 years old, Giles responded that he was 53. Giles then directed the conversation to become sexual in nature and attempted to persuade a person who he thought to be a minor to engage in sexual activity with him. When Giles traveled from his home in Kansas City, Missouri, to Kansas for a meetup with a "minor", the FBI arrested him. Giles told law enforcement he had believed he was talking to an actual 14-year-old girl, and that he traveled to the residence to have sex with a minor.

"These undercover operations are proactive measures to find and arrest child predators," said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. "Mr. Giles was thoroughly convinced he was communicating with a 14-year-old girl so it's unsettling to think what could have happened had this been a child instead of an FBI agent. Parents need to be aware that child predators are lurking on the internet and should take measures to protect their children and know of their internet activity."

"The unfortunate reality is predators exist within our communities. Operations like this one reflect the FBI's commitment to ensuring we identify those who exploit children and make sure these predators face justice. We will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to protect children, purse offenders, and keep our communities safe," stated Chris Ormerod, FBI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey McCormick prosecuted the case.

Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and 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, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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