ALBANY, NY – A 37-year-old man from Clarksville, Tennessee, pleaded guilty Monday to traveling across state lines to engage in illegal sexual conduct with a minor in Clifton Park, federal prosecutors announced.
Donald Jenkins admitted that in September 2024, he began communicating with an individual to plan the sexual abuse of a person he believed to be an 11-year-old child residing in New York. On November 19, 2024, Jenkins drove from Tennessee to Clifton Park in a rented vehicle and was arrested at a prearranged meeting location.
According to the plea, Jenkins had obtained a sexually transmitted disease test earlier that day and brought several pairs of child’s underwear intended as gifts.
He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Albany to one count of interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 12 by U.S. District Judge Anne M. Nardacci. He faces up to 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, a minimum of five years and up to life of supervised release, and mandatory sex offender registration.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the New York State Police. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin S. Clark.