Enticing a child for indecent purposes is a federal felony under 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b) that carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2422 – Coercion and Enticement The offense is complete the moment an adult uses the internet, a phone, the mail, or any other means of interstate communication to try to persuade someone under 18 into sexual activity. No meeting has to occur. No physical contact has to occur. The attempt itself is the crime, which is why online sting operations can produce a conviction even when the “child” on the other end was always an undercover agent.
What the Statute Actually Requires
To convict, prosecutors must prove two elements. First, that the defendant used the mail or a facility of interstate or foreign commerce, which in practice means almost any digital platform. Second, that the defendant knowingly tried to persuade, induce, entice, or coerce a person under 18 to engage in prostitution or any sexual activity for which someone could be charged with a criminal offense.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2422 – Coercion and Enticement
The word “knowingly” carries real weight. The government has to show the defendant believed the other person was a minor and that the purpose of the communications was sexual. Idle or ambiguous chat is not enough. Courts read the whole conversation, not one line pulled out. A pattern of escalating sexual messages directed at someone the defendant thought was a child will satisfy the element; a single stray remark generally will not.
Because the statute reaches attempts, prosecutors don’t need a real child, a real meeting, or any completed sexual conduct. Asking a supposed 14-year-old to meet, or asking that person to send an explicit image, completes the offense the instant the request is sent.
How These Cases Arise
Federal enticement prosecutions generally come out of one of two fact patterns. In the first, an actual child is the victim, and the communications often follow a grooming arc: trust-building through attention, gifts, or emotional support, then a gradual shift toward sexual topics. Adults involved in these cases frequently misrepresent their age or invent personas designed to seem closer in age to the child.
In the second, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces run undercover operations. Agents pose as minors on social media, dating apps, and gaming chat rooms and document every exchange with an adult who steers the conversation toward sex. Once the target makes an explicit request to meet or asks for sexual images, that record becomes the core of the case.
Prison Time and Fines
A conviction under § 2422(b) means prison. There is no probation-only option. The mandatory minimum is 10 years and the maximum is life.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2422 – Coercion and Enticement Fines can reach $250,000 per count.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3571 – Sentence of Fine
Within the 10-year-to-life range, federal judges apply the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. The base offense level for enticement is 28, and specific facts of the case push it higher.3United States Sentencing Commission. USSG 2G1.3 – Transferring, Transporting, or Enticing a Minor to Engage in Prohibited Sexual Conduct Two levels are added when a computer or interactive service was used. Two more when the defendant misrepresented identity to persuade the minor. Two more when the defendant had custodial or supervisory authority over the child. Two more when actual sexual contact occurred. And eight levels, the largest single enhancement, when the child was under 12.
Most online cases start at level 28 and reach 32 or higher once the computer and misrepresentation enhancements are applied. At that level, even a defendant with no criminal history faces a guidelines range starting around 10 to 12 years. When the victim is under 12, the range can push past 20.
Restitution is mandatory on top of the prison term. The court must order the defendant to pay the victim’s full losses, including medical and psychiatric care, therapy, lost income, temporary housing, child care, and attorney fees.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2259 – Mandatory Restitution Inability to pay is not a ground to waive it.
Life After Prison
The sentence doesn’t end at release. A conviction under § 2422 triggers supervised release of anywhere from five years to life.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3583 – Inclusion of a Term of Supervised Release After Imprisonment Standard conditions include GPS monitoring, restrictions on internet and computer use, mandatory sex-offender treatment, a ban on contact with minors, and regular reporting to a probation officer. Violations send the person back to prison.
Federal sex offender registration under SORNA is also required. Tier I offenders register for 15 years, Tier II for 25 years, and Tier III for life.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 34 USC 20915 – Duration of Registration Requirement7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 34 USC 20914 – Information Required in Registration8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 34 USC 20913 – Registry Requirements for Sex Offenders The information appears in a public database. Failing to register or update is itself a federal felony punishable by up to 10 years.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2250 – Failure to Register Many jurisdictions layer on residency restrictions barring registered offenders from living near schools, parks, playgrounds, and child care facilities, which persist for the entire registration period.
Related Charges Often Filed Alongside Enticement
Enticement rarely stands alone. Prosecutors commonly stack related counts, each with its own mandatory minimum.
Traveling across state lines with intent to engage in sexual conduct with a minor carries up to 30 years.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2423 – Transportation of Minors Actually transporting a minor across state lines for sexual purposes carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life. Arranging or facilitating someone else’s travel for these purposes can also reach 30 years. Attempt and conspiracy carry the same penalties as the completed offense.
When the enticement involves persuading a minor to produce sexually explicit images or video, including livestreamed content, federal sexual exploitation charges attach.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2251 – Sexual Exploitation of Children A first offense carries 15 to 30 years. A second offense carries 25 to 50 years. A third carries 35 years to life. Asking a child to send a single explicit photo over the internet is enough, because the image moves through interstate commerce.
Defenses That Come Up
Enticement cases are hard to defend, but a few arguments recur.
Entrapment
In sting cases this is the first defense most people think of, and it usually fails. Under Jacobson v. United States, once entrapment is raised the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was already predisposed to commit the crime before agents made contact.12Legal Information Institute. Jacobson v. United States, 503 U.S. 540 (1992) If the defendant initiated the sexual content, escalated on their own, or returned repeatedly, courts treat that as predisposition. The defense succeeds only where the record shows agents pushed a defendant into conduct they would not otherwise have pursued.
Lack of Intent
Because § 2422(b) requires knowing conduct, the defense may argue the defendant did not intend sexual contact with a minor. Ambiguous, joking, or out-of-context messages sometimes support this. Courts look at the whole timeline, so an isolated ambiguous line rarely helps once a broader pattern is on the record.
Belief the Person Was an Adult
If the defendant genuinely and reasonably believed the other person was an adult, that undermines the knowledge element. This argument has limited traction when an undercover profile or early message clearly stated an underage age. Where the supposed age surfaced only deep in a conversation, or the profile carried contradictory age signals, there is more room to argue the required knowledge was absent.
No Interstate Commerce
Federal jurisdiction requires use of the mail or a facility of interstate commerce. Digital communications satisfy this element by default. In a rare case of purely local, in-person solicitation with no digital component, the conduct falls outside § 2422(b) and can be pursued only under state law.
State Charges Can Run Alongside Federal Ones
Every state has its own child enticement statute, and definitions, age thresholds, and penalties vary. Some cover in-person solicitation that federal law does not reach. A defendant can be charged by both a state and the federal government for the same conduct, because the dual sovereignty doctrine treats them as separate authorities. As a general pattern, federal prosecutors take internet-based enticement and state prosecutors more often handle in-person offenses, but there is no formal rule dividing them.