By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
It has become all too common for federal authorities to arrest a man for traveling to another state to have sex with a minor.
But what’s unusual is for the feds to bust a woman for this crime.
Catharine L. Miller, 33, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., was sentenced earlier this week in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, Ill. to 10 years in prison for traveling from Ohio to Wayne County, Ill. to have sex with a 14-year-old girl she met on the Internet.
According to an FBI affidavit, Miller met the teen on an Internet forum in July 2008. They subsequently communicated by email and cellphone.
Miller let the teen know she was interested in sex and on Nov. 11, 2008, sent her a text message saying she had reserved a hotel room in Flora, Ill., the FBI affidavit said.
A few days later, Miller traveled form Cincinnati to Flora, Ill. and met with the teen and “proposed marriage and “provided a diamond ring” and a baby bottle “because the juvenile would be Miller’s ‘baby’.”
The next few days, the two had sex. At one point, the teen’s stepfather and mother found out the two were in a car at Johnsonville Park and caught them kissing, according to the FBI affidavit.
“The juvenile’s step-father pulled Miller out of the vehicle and contacted law enforcement”, the affidavit said. Miller was arrested and later pleaded guilty to interstate travel to have sex with a minor.
