Houston Man Sentenced after Traveling to Tulsa to Engage in Sex with a Minor

TULSA, Okla. – Today, U.S. District Judge John F. Heil, III sentenced Lee Finch, II, 49, of Houston, Texas, for Coercion and Enticement of a Minor and Travel[ing] with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct. Judge Heil ordered that Finch serve
180 months imprisonment, followed by lifetime supervised release. Upon his release, Finch will also be required to register
as a sex offender.

According to court records, Finch started coercing and abusing the 12-year-old victim in Jun. 2016 during “sleepovers” at his house. In Sep. 2016, Finch moved to Houston, Texas. He would travel back to Tulsa to have sexual intercourse with the minor. From Jun. 2017 through Feb. 2018, the abuse continued while the minor victim lived with Finch and his family in Houston, Texas. When the minor victim relocated back to Tulsa, Finch continued the abuse through sexually explicit text messages that corresponded with flight records back to Tulsa. 

In Apr. 2018 the minor victim’s mother found the text messages. She reported the sexually explicit messages to the Tulsa Police Department (TPD). In Dec. 2018, Finch was charged in Tulsa County District Court with the State charge of lewd or indecent proposal to a child and ordered to not have contact with the minor. Despite the no-contact order, Finch encouraged the minor to lie to law enforcement and continue their “relationship.”  

Finch pleaded guilty in Jun. 2020 to a State charge of Using a Computer to Violate Oklahoma Statutes. He was sentenced to five years in the custody of the Department of Corrections, with all time suspended. Finch was ordered to not have contact with the victim but continued to contact the minor victim.

In Apr. 2021, the mother and minor victim returned to TPD. The minor disclosed the full extent of the “relationship” with Finch. The victim admitted to being dishonest with law enforcement and fully believed they were in a “relationship.”

Federal charges for Coercion and Enticement of a Minor were filed on Apr. 18, 2023. As the investigation continued, Finch was additionally charged with Travel[ing] with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct. On Sep. 13, 2023, Finch pled guilty to Coercion and Enticement of a Minor and Travel[ing] with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct. At sentencing, he was ordered to serve 15 years in federal custody in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Finch will remain in custody pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

The Homeland Security Investigations and Tulsa Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Dunn prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources tab on that page.