The lawyer, who was communicating with an undercover agent, said he was willing to travel from Atlanta to the Tampa Bay area to teach the 12-year-old “child” about sex and the “art of pleasing a man,” according to the U.S. attorney.

TAMPA – A federal jury has found an Atlanta attorney guilty of trying to have sex with a 12-year-old child, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

Richard Franklin Jensen, III, 33, of Atlanta, was found guilty of attempted enticement of a minor and attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 4.

Jensen was indicted Feb. 20.

According to evidence presented at trial, between May 23, 2015, and June 1, 2015, Jensen communicated on a social media website, via email, and over text messages, with someone he believed to be a single mom looking for a man to sexually abuse her 12-year-old daughter. In reality, Jensen was talking to an undercover agent.

During the conversations, Jensen told the “mom” that he was the guy that she had been looking for, who was interested in sexually abusing the child, and that he was willing to travel from Atlanta to the Tampa Bay area to teach the “child” about sex and the “art of pleasing a man.” In addition to providing graphic details about the sexual abuse he wanted to perform on the child, Jensen asked the “mom” to prepare the child for the sexual encounter by breaking the child’s hymen in advance of his visit to Tampa.

Jensen planned to abuse the child over a period of time, stating that “it couldn’t be a one-time thing.” In his process of grooming the child, Jensen promised to buy “sexy big girl clothes and underwear,” complimented the child’s “sexy little body,” and wanted the “mom” to let the child watch pornography so the child could prepare for sex with Jensen.

Jensen also emailed and messaged the purported child, and graphically described the sexual abuse that he wished to engage in with the child. He sent multiple pictures of his genitalia to the “mom,” to share with the child.

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