Rockwood Detective Sentenced To 12 Years For Attempted Enticement Of A Child

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - On June 23, 2026, Charles Andrew Crothers, 39, of Oliver Springs, TN, was sentenced to 151 months imprisonment by the Honorable Thomas A. Varlan, United States District Judge, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville. Following his imprisonment, Crothers will be on lifetime supervised release and will be required to register with state sex offender registries and comply with special sex offender conditions.

As part of the plea agreement filed with the court, Crothers agreed to plead guilty to one count in the indictment charging him with attempted enticement of a child, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b).

Investigators with the Blount County, Alabama Sheriff's Office conducted an undercover operation targeting known chat websites. An undercover officer, posing as a 15-year-old girl, was contacted by Crothers. Crothers was given a phone number he believed to be for a cell phone for the 15-year-old. Crothers requested nude photographs of the girl and spoke to her about sexually explicit topics. On the final day of texting, Crothers sent the undercover officer pictures of his erect penis. In those pictures, and pictures sent earlier depicting his face, investigators with the Blount County, Alabama Sheriff's Office was able to determine that Crothers was employed as a detective with the Rockwood, TN Police Department.

U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III of the Eastern District of Tennessee made the announcement.

The criminal indictment was the result of an investigation by the FBI and the Blount County, Alabama Sheriff's Office. This investigation was led by FBI Special Agent Jordan Foreman.

Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Kolman represented the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006, by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney's Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about PSC, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click the tab "resources."

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