Lubbock man who sexually abused Georgia teen sentenced to 30 years in prison
A 34-year-old man who admitted to taking a 14-year-old girl from her home in Georgia last year and taking her to Lubbock where he sexually abused her was sentenced in December to 30 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix on Dec. 16 handed down the maximum sentence to Robert Fyke, who pleaded guilty in August to a count of production of child pornography. Hendrix also ordered Fyke to 15 years of supervised release.
Fyke was initially faced additional counts of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual conduct, travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and enticement and attempted enticement of a minor. However, those charges were dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea to the production of child phonography charge.
The charges against Fyke, who was arrested June 17, stems a missing persons investigation into the disappearance of a 14-year-old girl from Dekalb County, Georgia. During the investigation, the girl's cell phone was tracked to Fyke's home in Lubbock.
When police went to Fyke's home, the girl was not there. However, Fyke reportedly admitted to starting an online relationship with the girl via the KiK social media app that turned sexual, according to documents filed in federal court.
Fyke told investigators that on May 15 he traveled to Georgia where he picked up the girl and brought her to Lubbock. He initially told investigators he believed the girl was 19 years old, though said she looked at least three to four years younger than that. However, he later admitted during a lie-detector test to knowing she was 14 when he met her.
Fyke admitted to sexually abusing the girl during the trip to Lubbock and while she stayed with him. Forensic investigators also found sexually explicit images of the girl on Fyke's phone, the documents state.
Fyke said the girl was with him for more than a month before leaving him on June 11 for someone else, saying she may be in Pennsylvania or Connecticut.
During his interview with investigators, Fyke was allowed to use his phone to contact the girl, who replied that she was fine.
That same day, law enforcement in Connecticut found the girl and arrested 35-year-old Wayne Marcell, who faces federal charges of sexual exploitation of a child, receipt of child pornography and transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. His case is still pending, according to court records.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock man who sexually abused teen sentenced to 30 years in prison
