Nashville Man Pleads Guilty to Child Exploitation Offenses

NASHVILLE - Ladonta Glenn, 31, of Nashville, Tennessee, pleaded guilty today to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity, and one count of coercion and enticement of a minor to travel in interstate to engage in unlawful sexual activity, announced Robert E. McGuire, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.

"We will do what it takes to protect children in our community from sexual predators who prowl social media looking for victims," said Acting United States Attorney Robert E. McGuire. "I want to commend the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their excellent work on this case. I also want to encourage all parents in our community to be aware of what your children are doing on social media, to know who they are talking to online, and to be aware that danger is lurking in every app."

On August 1, 2024, officers with the Metro Nashville Police Department ("MNPD") responded to a house in Nashville, after receiving a tip that a 16-year-old minor female runaway was there. When officers arrived at the house, they were let in by the Defendant's mother. When the officers first asked the Defendant about the minor victim, he denied knowing her; however, his mother told the officers that she was upstairs.

After initially claiming he didn't know the minor victim, Glenn stated he got her phone number from a friend through Instagram. He said the minor victim called him and said she needed a ride, then that he thought someone had given her a ride to his house. Glenn claimed he was going to let the minor victim stay at his house until her mother could come get her because he was "being a friend." He claimed that she told him that her boyfriend stayed in Tennessee, but her boyfriend kicked her out. As officers continued speaking with Glenn, he said he met the minor victim through Instagram as she was "going out" with his friend, Brandon. He claimed someone dropped the minor victim off in Tennessee. After the minor victim got into a fight with her boyfriend, Glenn said he texted her and told her if she didn't have any place to go, she could come to his house. Glenn admitted he knew she was 16 years old, but claimed he did not know she was a runaway.

After telling several different stories to the officers, Glenn was transported to MNPD Headquarters where he was interviewed by a Youth Services detective. Before being interviewed, Glenn was advised of his Miranda rights, which he agreed to waive and speak with the detective. He continued to tell different stories about how he knew the victim and how she got to his house. He initially denied being the minor victim's boyfriend, but when she referred to him as her boyfriend, he said it was nothing serious. When he was asked if the minor victim sent him any nude images, he said she may have sent some through Instagram, but then said he didn't do anything with them because "you could go to jail for exposing a little girl like that." He claimed if he received nudes from the minor victim, he looked at the nudes and then deleted them. When asked if the nudes would still be on his phone, he indicated they would be in his "your eyes only" folder.

When asked about sexual contact with the minor victim, Glenn said he knew the law, and that because the minor victim was 16, she could not consent. He was then asked if he wanted to have sex with the minor victim, which he denied, but he then said if he did have sex with her, it was consensual. When asked about sexting with the minor victim, he denied sexting with the minor victim, but he admitted they engaged in sexual communications over text.

On August 1, 2024, when MNPD officers located the minor victim, they observed what appeared to be "hickies" on her neck while they were speaking with her. She stated that Glenn was her boyfriend, they had been dating for about a month, and that she believed he was 15 years old. During a forensic interview of the minor victim, she said she met Glenn on Instagram, they exchanged phone numbers and then began communicating on a regular basis. When she learned that he was 31 years old, she was shocked. She said they had phone sex, which she described as recording herself while she was masturbating, and she sent the recordings to Glenn using her cell phone. She said she sent a lot of videos to Glenn, which she recorded using her iPhone. She told the officers she took a Greyhound bus from her home in Ohio to Nashville, which Glenn paid for. Once she arrived at the Glenn's house, he immediately asked her to perform fellatio on him in the bathroom, which she did, and after that they engaged in vaginal intercourse.

On August 27, 2024, the FBI performed a forensic extraction of the Defendant's cell phone after obtaining a federal search warrant. The hidden folder on Glenn's phone contained multiple photos and videos, including sexually explicit videos, of the minor victim. The FBI located a conversation between the Defendant and the minor victim starting on June 29 and ending on July 10. During the conversation, Glenn asked the minor victim to be his girlfriend, and the two began discussing sex.

When he is sentenced on February 2, 2026, Glenn faces a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years and a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Nashville Field Office, and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica R. Morrison is prosecuting the case.

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