Fulton sex offender pleads guilty to federal crime
A Fulton sex offender pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to transporting a 13-year-old girl across state lines for sexual activity.
Michael J. Collins, 21, was also on state probation at the time of the federal offense for a prior conviction for sexual misconduct involving a child, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release.
The Callaway County Sheriff’s Office received information on Dec. 10 that a 13-year-old girl from Alabama was missing and that a cellphone ping placed her in Fulton, according to the plea agreement. Authorities found and removed her from the residence.
Collins admitted with his plea to paying his grandmother $400 to drive to Alabama and pick up the girl, whom he met on a dating website in July 2017, the release said. Collins was living at the Community Supervision Center in Fulton and his mother and grandmother took the child back and forth from a Fulton residence to the center when they drove Collins back and forth to work, the release said.
Collins faces a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be set after a presentence investigation.
