Northern District of Alabama | Madison man convicted of sexual exploitation

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – A jury has convicted a Madison man of child exploitation, U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples announced.

The jury returned a guilty verdict against Anthony Ray Lawrence, 37, of Madison, after three days of testimony before U.S. District Court Judge Madeline H. Haikala. Lawrence was convicted of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.

According to evidence presented at trial, between April and May 2023, Lawrence used a social media application to contact someone he thought was a 14-year-old female, but who was actually an undercover law enforcement officer. He told the undercover officer that he was using the application to meet younger girls. On May 1, 2023, Lawrence traveled from Madison, Alabama, to Homewood, Alabama, to engage in sexual acts with a minor. At the time of his arrest, Lawrence possessed condoms and sexual lubricant. He had rented a hotel room nearby.

If you suspect or become aware of possible sexual exploitation of a child, please contact the police. Call 205-326-6166 to alert the FBI Birmingham office. Reports can also be filed with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) or online at www.cybertipline.org.

The case was filed as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood uses federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children online, and to better locate, arrest and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet. rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The FBI investigated the case along with Homewood police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel S. McBrayer and R. Leann White are prosecuting the case.