Press Release
KENTUCKY MAN SENTENCED TO 480 MONTHS’IMPRISONMENT ON CHARGE OF TRANSPORTING A MINOR IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE TO ENGAGE IN SEXUAL ACTIVITY
September 22, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that defendant Marion Yarbrough was sentenced on Friday, September 19, 2008, before United States District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra in West Palm Beach. Yarbrough had previously pled guilty to one count of a three-count Indictment, charging him with knowingly transporting in interstate commerce a fifteen-year old girl with the intent that the minor engage in criminal sexual activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(a). Judge Marra sentenced Yarbrough to 480 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by lifetime supervised release, a $100 special assessment, and an order of restitution. Yarbrough also was ordered to register as a sex offender and to have no unsupervised contact with children.
Yarbrough, a resident of Kentucky, met a fifteen-year-old West Palm Beach girl on a mobile-web-based social site named “itsmy.com.” During a series of on-line chats, Yarbrough portrayed himself as a twenty-one year old man although he was actually thirty-four years old using the screen name “BlockBurna1.” After chatting for several days, Yarbrough arranged to have a Greyhound Bus ticket wired to the victim in West Palm Beach, and the victim traveled by bus to Tennessee, where Yarbrough met her. Yarbrough then took the victim by automobile to Kentucky. During the two weeks that Yarbrough had custody of the victim, he repeatedly sexually abused her. Once the case was brought to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI’s Kentucky and West Palm Beach offices, working with the Kentucky State Police, were able to locate the victim within 48 hours.
Yarbrough had previously been charged in Kentucky with sexually abusing three other minors. One charge was reduced to simple assault resulting in a sentence of probation. Another rape charge was reduced to statutory rape with a suspended sentence. At the time of his arrest by the FBI, he had pending charges for the rape of a twelve-year-old girl in Kentucky. Now that Yarbrough has been sentenced, he will be returned to Kentucky to face those charges.
Mr. Acosta commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Kentucky State Police for their combined efforts in locating and rescuing the victim in this case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also commended the joint efforts of Palm Beach County Victim Services, the Parent-Child Center, the victim’s court-appointed Guardian ad Litem, and the FBI’s Victim-Witness Coordinator for their work in providing counseling and social support to the victim upon her return. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Marie C. Villafana.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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