Former Rockwood Police detective Charles Crothers was sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison on Tuesday in Knoxville for soliciting an individual he believed to be a 15-year-old girl in Alabama, who was actually an undercover agent. Crothers was arrested in October 2024 and charged with solicitation or enticement of a minor and attempted production of child pornography.

In June, he pleaded guilty to one charge in exchange for the other being dropped. Judge Varlan presided over the case. Crothers, who was fired by Chief Pittman immediately after his arrest, will be required to register as a sex offender upon release. He has been held at Laurel County Jail in Kentucky since his arrest, with his federal prison assignment still undetermined.