East Prairie man receives 35-year federal sentence for attempted sexual exploitation of a minor

BENTON, Ill. – An East Prairie, Missouri, man was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.

Jason Dominik Tyler Rodriquez, 38, of East Prairie was sentenced to a total of 420 months in prison March 23 after a federal jury found him guilty in November of 2021 of trying to have sex with an 8-year-old girl and transporting child pornography.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Rodriguez, formerly known as Jason Tyler Smith, chatted online for four days on an online dating application and had a telephone conversation with what he thought was a father willing to allow strangers to have sex with his 8-year-old daughter for $150. The purported father was actually an FBI agent.

During the conversations, Rodriguez indicated his interest in traveling to Marion, Illinois, from St.

Louis, Missouri, to meet the father and the purported victim and engage in sexual acts with her. On March 26, 2020, Rodriguez left St. Louis where he was employed as a nurse, and arrived

at a business in Marion. Law enforcement agents promptly arrested Rodriguez. After his

arrest, agents found $150 in cash on Rodriguez and an unopened bag of candy in his automobile.

Rodriguez had previously been told the 8 year old would expect candy before having sex with him.

After his arrest, the agents also discovered Rodriguez had a cellphone in his possession with over 20,000 videos and pictures of child pornography.

“Federal law enforcement conducts these sting operations so that would-be child molesters are

aggressively prosecuted after they take affirmative steps to abuse a child, but before they can do immeasurable damage,” said United States Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft in a news release.

The Investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Springfield Division, and the United States Marshals Service.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in

2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.