A 23-year-old Pennsylvania man will serve two decades in federal prison for crossing state lines to pick up a 14-year-old girl for a planned sexual encounter. Bailey Michael Stouter was sentenced on March 18, 2026, in a case that prompted a multi-state search and federal investigation.
U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner of the Western District of Kentucky and the FBI Louisville Field Office’s Acting Special Agent in Charge Olivia Olson announced the punishment. Stouter pled guilty to transportation with the purpose to commit criminal sexual behavior and online enticing of a child.
Along with his 20-year prison sentence, the court imposed a lifetime of supervised release and $3,000 in restitution to the victim.
According to court documents, Stouter first contacted the victim using a social media program. After conversing online, he went from Pennsylvania to Bullitt County, Kentucky, and picked up the girl at her house. He intended to take her back to Pennsylvania for a sexual encounter.
Following her disappearance, a missing person report was made, which prompted a thorough search. Several days later, authorities spotted Stouter and the adolescent in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania.
“Online predators are a plague,” U.S. Attorney Kyle Bumgarner said regarding the sentencing. “They manipulate, exploit and abuse our children. Law enforcement will leave no stone unturned in searching for these predators. The United States Attorney’s Office will aggressively prosecute these deviants! Stouter’s deviance cost him 20 years in federal prison and his entire life on supervised release after he completes his 20-year sentence.”
Because there is no parole in the federal justice system, Stouter is likely to complete his whole term. The FBI spearheaded the investigation, with assistance from the Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office, and Assistant United States Attorney Danielle M. Yannelli handled the prosecution.
This case falls under Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice project started in 2006 to combine federal, state, and local resources to combat child exploitation. The program aims to capture people who target kids online and provide options for victim rescue.
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