Gerald Hanks
A Wisconsin man who reportedly traveled to Houston in pursuit of sex with a 4-year-old girl recently received a sentence of 11 years in prison.
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Benjamin David Sherwood learned his fate last week in a Houston courtroom when Chief District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal issued the sentence.
After his sentence, Judge Rosenthal ordered Sherwood remain under supervision for the rest of his life.
Sherwood pleaded guilty to traveling across state lines to engage in illicit contact with a child and enticing a minor into sexual contact in August of this year.
Judge Rosenthal ordered the sentences for each crime, which carried options for jail time as long as 30 years each, be served concurrently.
In addition to the prison sentence, Sherwood will register as a sex offender and be limited on his access to children and the Internet.
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The case against Sherwood reportedly began in August 2015, when an agent of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began posting an online advertisement for persons seeking sexual relations with a fictional 2-year-old girl.
Sherwood responded to the ad, telling the agent he could only be sexually attracted to young children and how he could not sustain an adult relationship.
Records show Sherwood and the agent continued communicating through phone calls, emails and online chat sessions.
In May 2017, Sherwood traveled to Houston with the intention of engaging in sex with who he believed to be a then-4-year-old child.
He arrived at a Houston hotel with gifts for the child, as well as items to prepare for a sexual encounter, including pacifiers and lubricant.
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Federal agents arrested Sherwood in his hotel room.
During the chats, he admitted he knew what he planned to do to be illegal.
Sherwood’s record also includes a prior juvenile adjudication for third degree sexual assault from Wisconsin.
