Former Evansville teacher sentenced in child exploitation case
EVANSVILLE — A former Evansville teacher who was caught traveling across state lines to engage in sex with a minor was sentenced to federal prison, officials announced Wednesday.
A grand jury indicted Cody Sean McCormick, 28, in November. In May, he pleaded guilty to all three counts: attempted enticement of a minor, interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual activity with a minor and attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor, court records show.
Judge Greg N. Stiver of the U.S. District Court for Western Kentucky, sentenced McCormick to serve 10 years in prison with a lifetime of supervision upon his release. Federal prisoners do not have the option for early parole.
According to federal court records, McCormick admitted that he traveled from Indiana to Owensboro, Kentucky, to meet with a person he believed to be a 15-year-old child.
Days before McCormick’s arrest in November, the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corp. Board discussed his termination, according to a board agenda. McCormick was quickly removed from the EVSC staff directory.
In an indictment, prosecutors stated that McCormick used the Whisper messaging application to communicate with an undercover agent posing as the young girl. At least some of the messages showed McCormick offering to give the 15-year-old marijuana before they would engage in sex.
McCormick crossed state lines from Indiana and traveled to Owensboro on Oct. 13 to meet who thought was the underage girl, court records state. Before doing so, he reportedly asked the undercover agent if they were a police officer multiple times.
When McCormick arrived in Owensboro, officers surveilling the meetup location detained him and transported him to the Owensboro Police Department for questioning, where he admitted to sending messages and photos to the undercover agent, including photos of his genitalia and drug paraphernalia.
Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Spencer McKiness prosecuted the case, which was initially investigated as part of Operation Angel, a joint federal, state and local operation designed to make federal arrests of individuals who victimize underage children in the Owensboro area.
According to federal officials, the United States Secret Service, the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General, the Kentucky State Police and the Owensboro Police Department investigated the case.
The case was also brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide U.S. Justice Department initiative launched in 2006 to combat child exploitation and abuse.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Former Evansville teacher sentenced in child exploitation case
