Kansas National Guard soldier admits sexting 11-year-old child in Missouri, feds say

A 21-year-old Kansas National Guard Soldier admitted to sexting an 11-year-old girl in Missouri while he was engaged to his fiancée, federal officials say.

Christian Sinclair of Chanute pleaded guilty to one count of the sexual exploitation of a child in federal court on Wednesday, March 2, according to court records.

In his signed plea agreement, Sinclair says he engaged in “sexually explicit conduct” with a Missouri minor from as early as Aug. 1, 2020, through June 15, 2021.

Sinclair’s defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

Sinclair’s captain, while deployed in Arizona, reported on June 15 that he had received information that the solider was sexting an 11-year-old, court documents say.

The captain reported he learned of this through Sinclair’s fiancée, who had said Sinclair admitted to “cheating” on her with the girl, records show.

That same day, after authorities tracked down the girl’s father, he agreed to an interview with officials. The dad told officials his daughter admitted to sending nude photos to Sinclair, according to the plea agreement.

The next day, officials say Sinclair messaged the girl’s father to apologize for what he did. He messaged through his Facebook profile, which said he works for the U.S. Army and National Guard.

In an interview with authorities on June 28, the girl said she met Sinclair about a year before while staying with her sister in Fort Scott, Kansas, records show.

They began communicating with each other using Facebook Messenger for awhile, the girl told officials, before they switched to Snapchat. In the fall of 2021, she says the soldier requested photos of “specific body parts” several times. She complied, officials say.

Sinclair admits to asking the girl for nude images, officials say, and he also sent her sexual images.

“Under federal statutes, Sinclair is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri. A sentencing hearing had not been scheduled as of March 2.

Chanute is about 110 miles east of Wichita.

This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Kansas National Guard soldier admits sexting 11-year-old child in Missouri, feds say."