JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A Jacksonville couple could spend the rest of their lives in prison if convicted on charges of conspiring to sex traffic a child.
A grand jury returned an indictment charging 46-year-old Samuel Christopher Templeman and 50-year-old Deborah Lynn Templeman, a married couple, with conspiring to sex traffic a child, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Monday. Samuel Templeman is also charged with sex trafficking a child, and Deborah Templeman is charged with possessing child sex abuse material.
The indictment says that beginning at least by November 2019 and continuing through Dec. 11, 2019, Samuel and Deborah Templeman "conspired to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, obtain, maintain, patronize and solicit a female child whom they knew was under the age of 18 and would be caused to engage in a commercial sex act." During the same timeframe, Samuel Templeman "knowingly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained and maintained" the victim, knowing she was under the age of 18 and would be caused to engage in a commercial sex act, according to the indictment.
The indictment also states that Deborah Templeman possessed a cellphone containing a video showing a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct on Dec. 7, 2019.
If convicted on all counts, Samuel Templeman faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, and up to two life terms, in federal prison. Deborah Templeman faces up to life in federal prison.
The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative of the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, click here.