Crumsey gets 25 years for federal sex crimes involving teenage girls

Judges denies defense’s 15-year sentence request
 
A Republic man will spend the next 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to transporting two teenage girls into Iowa, where he engaged in sexual activity with them. Cleveland Lee Crumsey, 38, received his sentence on Friday, Sept. 17, at the federal courthouse in Springfield.
According to the indictment in the case, Crumsey took two girls, identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, from Greene County on Jan. 4, 2019 into Fremont County, Iowa, where they arrived the next day.
Deputies from the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Crumsey on Jan. 5. Because Crumsey crossed state lines to commit the crime, it fell into the jurisdiction of the federal courts.
Crumsey pleaded guilty in March of 2020 to one count of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity; in return, a second count of transporting a minor across state lines was dismissed.
In an allocution statement, Crumsey apologized to the girls and their families, saying he made a “grave, life-altering mistake” that “affected the lives of many,” but claimed to have learned his lesson and that it wouldn’t happen again. His lawyer requested that he receive a sentence of 15 years, calling it “reasonable in light his age, lack of significant criminal history, and his remorsefulness for his conduct.”
However, Roseann Ketchmark, the presiding judge at Crumsey’s sentencing hearing, sentenced him to 25 years instead, with lifetime supervision after release. Ketchmark also recommended that Crumsey participate in a sex offender treatment program and that he be placed in Sex Offender Management Program facility; she also recommended that Crumsey be screened for placement in the Marion, Ill. facility, if such treatment was offered there.
Pending his transfer, Crumsey was remanded to custody the U.S. Marshall Service.