Sexual predator gets maximum sentence of 42 years in federal prison for exploiting minors

A 24-year-old sexual predator who a federal judge said scored "off the charts" for the sentencing guidelines was given the maximum sentence of 42 years in prison Thursday for sexually exploiting a dozen girls, ages 12 to 15.

Lucas Robinson, of Cedar Rapids, pleaded guilty in February to sexual exploitation of children, possession of child pornography and extortion. Robinson victimized 12 girls online in chat rooms, through Skype, Facebook and other websites, and by phone and texts. He enticed and coerced them into sending him sexually explicit photos of themselves to him and when they refused to send him additional images, he threatened them by telling him he would distribute them to websites and send the images to their parents and friends.

The girls were ages 12 to 15 and four were from Cedar Rapids and the other eight girls were from different states - Alaska, Missouri, Minnesota, South Dakota, Kentucky, New Jersey and North Carolina. Robinson told the girls he was a 15-year-old. He exploited and extorted victims for three years from 2009 to 2012.

According to evidence at sentencing, Robinson convinced one victim to share her Facebook password with him and later told her he could send sexually explicit images of her to her friends. In one of the text the judge shared with the court, Robinson threatened a victim to the point of making her threaten suicide but even then, he continued to threaten her.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Tremmel said Robinson also extorted one of the girls to meet him and have sex with him, and asked another victim to lie to police about his activities. Tremmel asked the court to impose the maximum sentence.

John Lane, Robinson's attorney, asked the court to consider his young age and lack of judgment. He asked the court to give him the minimum sentence of 15 years.

Robinson told the judge he accepted full responsibility for his "reckless actions and destructive decisions." He said "as a victim of a molester" he knew what they were going through and he would apologize to each of them if he could.

Many family members and friends attended the hearing and submitted letters of support to the court.

No victims attended the hearing or gave impact statements.

U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade said she hadn't seen such an "aggravated" case in her 20 years on the bench. She said what he asked the victims to do was "sick stuff" and she wouldn't go into great detail in open court out of respect for the victims.

"His decisions are far beyond poor judgment," Reade said. "This wasn't one incident, it occurred over a period of time. He had a pattern of dangerous criminal behavior that impacted 12 victims and their families."

Reade also said there was some mental health issues in Robinson's past but she didn't know if his claims that he was molested by a teacher were true. Robinson was arrested in 2008 when a former girlfriend broke up with him and he caused a "ruckus" at her parents house and police were called. The girlfriend said Robinson sent her "alarming and annoying" text messages when she stopped dating him.

Cedar Rapids Police investigators said during a news conference after the sentencing their investigation started after a local sex abuse report was taken. Investigators obtained a search warrant for Robinson's home where the pornography was retrieved from his phone and computer.

Interim U.S. Attorney Sean Berry urged parents to be aware of the dangers their children face on the internet, especially now that school is out and they will spend more time on their computers or phones.

"There are hundreds of Lucas Robinsons online right now," Berry said. "The internet can be a wonderful resource for kids, but sadly, it is often used to prey on them."

Berry suggested parents should tell their children never to give out personal information like addresses and phone numbers, never post or send photos of themselves without a parent's permission, never agree to meet face to face with someone they've met online, never respond to messages that talk about their bodies or seem scary or strange and always tell their parents if they find something scary or threatening on the internet.

Berry said parents can help protect their children from sexual predators like Robinson by paying attention and insisting on some "common sense" rules involving the internet.