A South Carolina man previously arrested in his home state for using a computer to commit sexual offenses with a minor was sentenced to prison time in Greene County Court on similar charges.
27-year old Bobby L. Kelley III of Sumter, South Carolina pleaded guilty to grooming on Wednesday in Greene County Court.
Kelley was arrested for grooming and indecent solicitation of a child over the Internet by Carrollton Police on February 7th after a warrant from the Greene County State’s Attorney’s Office was issued. According to charging documents, Kelley was alleged to have requested nude and sexually explicit photographs and videos of a minor between September and October 2022, as well requesting sexual conduct with the minor between that time period. The indecent solicitation charge was dropped per the plea agreement.
According to a report by WLTX in Sumter, South Carolina; Kelley was arrested in March 2016 on arrest warrants out of the State of Virginia for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, encouraging explicit material and using a computer to commit sexual offenses with a minor. Police reports in the 2016 case say that Kelley began communicating with a 17-year old female online that involved the exchange of nude photographs and sexually explicit conversation. A conclusion of the case in the State of Virginia is currently unavailable.
Greene County Circuit Judge Zachary Schmidt sentenced Kelley to 2 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, 1 year of mandatory supervised release, and ordered him to pay fees and court costs. Kelley was given 112 days credit for time served in the Greene County Jail. Kelley will also have to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.