Ex-Benning soldier sentenced for sneaking Florida teen onto post for sex, nude photos
A former Fort Benning soldier has been sentenced in federal court for picking up a 13-year-old girl in Florida and sneaking her onto the Army post here, where they repeatedly had sex as he took nude photos and video of her.
U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land sentenced former Army Specialist Samuel Robinson to 10 years in prison after Robinson pleaded guilty Oct. 27 to transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Authorities said Robinson, 23, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, also will have to register as a convicted sex offender.
The sheriff’s office in Walton County, Florida, contacted Fort Benning’s Criminal Investigation Division on June 14, reporting the 13-year-old left her Santa Rosa Beach home sometime around May 27. The girl via cell phone gave her mother a “pin” location showing she was at a motel in Columbus, where police found her and had her returned home.
Investigators conducting a forensic examination of the cell phone discovered it had pinged the girl’s location on Fort Benning between May 27 and June 2 as she communicated with Robinson, who later admitted to picking her up at a gas station in Destin, Florida. Robinson said he knew she was a minor, but thought she was 15 years old.
He managed to sneak her onto Fort Benning, where for six nights they had sex, and he photographed or video-recorded her naked more than 100 times, authorities said.