News

Asheville man gets 10-year prison for soliciting minor for sex

By Lightning Reports, Published: October 9, 2019

A 31-year-old Asheville man who tried to entice what he thought was a 14-year-old girl to meet him in Hendersonville for sex was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. also ordered the defendant, Jonathan Cody Alexander, to serve a lifetime of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.

According to court documents and court proceedings, from March 24 to April 10, 2017, Alexander engaged in multiple communications with a Homeland Security Investigations special agent posing as a 14-year-old female. During the exchanges, Alexander discussed his interest in engaging in sexual contact with the “minor,” and repeatedly requested suggestive pictures from the minor.

Court records show that after the minor told Alexander she would not be able to send pictures, Alexander began urging her to meet him at a motel to engage in sexual activities. When the minor seemed reluctant, Alexander promised money if she agreed to engage in sex with him and another woman. On April 6, 2017, Alexander made arrangements to meet the girl at a restaurant in Hendersonville. On April 10, 2017, law enforcement arrested Alexander when he arrived to meet the minor at the agreed-upon location for the purpose of engaging in sexual activities. Alexander pleaded guilty in May 2019 to one count of enticement of a minor.

Alexander’s case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Hendersonville and the Hendersonville Police Department.
In a separate case, Judge Cogburn sentenced Christopher Patrick Tanfield, 46, of Asheville, to six years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for receiving child pornography. Court records in this case show that on Oct. 8, 2016, Tanfield used a peer-to-peer network to access and download child pornography. A forensic analysis of Tanfield’s electronic devices revealed that he possessed more than 3,182 images and videos of prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Tanfield pleaded guilty on March 26 to receipt of child pornography.
Both Alexander and Tanfield are currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.