U.S. Department of Justice
A Kansas City, Kan., man has pleaded guilty to interstate travel for the purpose of engaging in sex with a child, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
Robert Poe, III, 38, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to three counts of traveling from Kansas to Missouri for the purpose of engaging in sex acts with a child.
During a hearing today, prosecutors told a judge the crimes occurred in 1999 and 2000. They said the investigation began in November 2000 when the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department received a complaint from the mother of a 7-year-old boy.
She said Poe had engaged in sexual acts with her son. At the time, Poe was a friend of the mother’s boyfriend, Michael Arnett, and Poe sometimes served as a babysitter for the boy. Arnett is charged in a separate federal criminal case.
Prosecutors told the judge that one incident (count one) occurred in April 2000 when Poe was babysitting the boy at Poe’s home. Poe showed the boy photos of nude children and then made the boy perform oral sex on him.
