Tennessee man is sentenced to 27 years for trying to lure a 12-year-old area girl into sex

A Tennessee man who carried on a sexually explicit online relationship with a 12-year-old Kansas City area girl has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.

John Richard Fortenberry Jr., who already was a registered sex offender after a conviction for taking indecent liberties with a child, was planning to travel to Kansas City to meet the girl before their relationship was uncovered, according to Facebook messages later found by investigators.

Prosecutors said Fortenberry, 38, had been in “constant and continual” online contact with the girl since she was 11.

According to the allegations, Fortenberry threatened and coerced the girl to engage in sexual activity and after he learned that he was being investigated, he tried to get her to delete computer evidence of their communications.

He pleaded guilty in November in U.S. District Court in Kansas City to attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.

This story was originally published April 11, 2014 at 10:22 AM with the headline "Tennessee man is sentenced to 27 years for trying to lure a 12-year-old area girl into sex."