A man from South Carolina got a heavy 27-year prison term for a brazen cross-country trip that was meant to end in sexual relations with a child. Tim Mikell Schultheis, a 26-year-old from Hilton Head who also goes by the name Jackson Oden, has pleaded guilty to transporting a minor with the plan to engage in sexual activity that is illegal. After pleading guilty on January 10 and being sentenced by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Márquez on Tuesday, he will have to register as a sex offender and be under supervision for life.
Investigators said Schultheis was a kidnapper because he used the illusion of social media to target a 12-year-old girl in Arizona and drove her across state lines back to his home in South Carolina. According to the Department of Justice, Schultheis’s Facebook messages with the minor were found to include explicit information about his travel plans and intents.
When he was caught on March 30, 2022, police found the girl at his apartment, which showed that the same thing had happened before. Before this incident with the 12-year-old, Schultheis got in trouble with the law for similar behavior. At the time of this incident, he was wearing an ankle monitor to keep an eye on him. As part of his plea deal, he also had to admit guilt to two charges that were being brought against him in South Carolina at the same time: criminal sexual conduct with a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Schultheis was found guilty and sentenced by U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino, who said, “Our efforts to protect the public start with safeguarding our youth from predators on social media.” He said, “Defendant will have a long time in custody to reflect on his crimes, and upon release decades from now, his supervised release conditions will restrict his use of smartphones and encryption technology to further protect the community.” At the event, FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Akil Davis showed how determined the police are by saying that Schultheis’s sentence “puts a stop to Timothy Schulthies and his repeated offenses.”
This case came up as part of Project Safe Childhood, a national effort started by the Department of Justice in 2006 to stop the abuse and trafficking of children. With the help of federal, state, and local agencies working together, the program tries to catch online predators and help the people they hurt. The FBI hopes that Schultheis’s long time in prison will serve as a strong warning to others who might think about doing wrong things.
