Fleming risks 5 years in prison

25 September 2007

BRUSSELS – The 19-year-old Fleming who landed in prison in Kentucky on charges of sexual activity with a 13-year-old could face a prison sentence of one to five years.

The nightmare for the Limburg teenager does not look as if it has ended yet. He got in trouble in the US this summer after getting to know an American girl online. As the emails became more intimate, he decided to visit her in the small town of Harlan, deep in Kentucky. When it turned out that the girl was only 13, the young man was arrested as a paedophile.

For the time being there is no sign that he will be released soon. He has been offered a plea bargain in which he could be given a fixed sentence in return for a plea of guilty, without facing trial.

The Fleming did not accept that deal, but there is a good chance he may be offered another deal, according to the director of the prison where he is being kept. The law sets a penalty of one to five years in prison for the charges of possession of sexual depictions of a minor and the “illicit use of electronic means to incite a minor to perform sexual or other prohibited actions.”

“Otherwise the boy is doing fine here,” says director Curtis Stallard.

“He has not been abused, as has been reported, though as a sex offender he has been placed in a separate wing with just eight prisoners. He is given three meals a day, four warm meals a week and is in good condition.”

What is not working out so well for the boy is an email campaign that has been launched from Belgium primarily targeting sheriff Marvin Lipfird, who carried out the arrest. These hate mails are most likely not helping the Belgian’s situation.

Subject: Belgian news