© Provided by WOOD Grand Rapids SW MI man gets prison for going to NY with intent to sexually abuse child
(WETM) – A Southwest Michigan man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for traveling to south central New York state to have sexual contact with a 10-year-old child, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.
As a part of his guilty plea, Robert Hardin, 76, of Kalamazoo, admitted that from July 2021 through August 2021, he exchanged sexually explicit messages with an undercover law enforcement officer who he thought was the mother of a 10-year-old girl.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says that in those messages, Hardin expressed a desire to engage in sexual contact with the child.
Hardin admitted that in August 2021, he traveled from Michigan to the Binghamton, New York, area to meet with the child and sexually abuse her.
He was arrested after arriving in New York.
Hardin was also sentenced to 20 years of supervised released and will have to register as a sex offender.
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