(BREAKING NEWS) – Disbarred Roane County attorney Kent Booher was found guilty by a federal jury today on charges of felony sexual offense against a minor while on a sex offender registry, sex trafficking of a child, attempted production of child pornography and two counts of enticement. Booher will be sentenced in August 2021 and is facing 25 years to life in prison.

Sentencing is scheduled for August 18, 2021, before Judge Thomas A. Varlan, United States District Judge.

The investigation began when an undercover investigation revealed that Booher, a convicted sex offender, began communicating on Facebook with an individual he believed to be a 14- year-old girl.  Over a period of five days, Booher used Facebook, text messaging, and telephone calls to attempt to entice the individual to engage in sexual activity.  On March 8, 2019, Booher was arrested by the 9^th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the Harriman Police Department while on the way to meet with a minor child.

Based upon the undercover investigation, a federal grand jury initially indicted Booher on federal charges of attempted enticement of a minor for sex and committing the enticement offense while required to register as a sex offender.  Two months later, following additional investigation, the grand jury added three charges pertaining to Booher’s sexual exploitation of a 15-year-old child in 2012 and 2013.

The lead agency in this investigation was the 9^th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  The Knoxville Police Department, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, Lenoir City Police Department, Loudon County Sheriff’s Office, Harriman Police Department, Blount County Sheriff’s Department, Tennessee Department of Corrections, and U.S. Secret Service, assisted with the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Kolman and Frank M. Dale, Jr. represented the United States at trial.