Court asked to dismiss child-enticement indictments for 3

The U.S. attorney's office requested the dismissal of federal child-enticement indictments against three Arkansas men on Wednesday, officials say.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Thyer said in a statement that he filed motions with district courts to dismiss the indictments against Kenneth Thompson, 23, of Bradford, Benjamin Vardell, 20, of Jonesboro and Lucas Oden, 20, of Paragould after all three men pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault. The men entered their pleas on Sept. 9 in Craighead County Circuit Court and were sentenced to 120 days in the Craighead County jail and five years of probation upon their release. All three will also have to register as sex offenders, Cherith Beck, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said.

The indictments charged each man with one count of using facilities and means of interstate commerce to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, Thyer said in a news release.

Text messages from cell phones belonging to Thompson, Vardell and Oden were used to entice a runaway girl to engage in sexual activities, according to the indictments filed Aug. 7, 2013.

The girl's mother gave detectives the girl's phone containing the messages, which ultimately led to the federal charges, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.

Read Thursday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more on this story.

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