Kody L. Willyard, 32, of Barnhart has admitted to exchanging marijuana, alcohol, a vaping device and vape cartridges for sex with a girl who was younger than 18. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, court documents show.
Willyard pleaded guilty on Thursday, June 13, to one felony count of coercion and enticement of a minor. Willyard’s lawyer and assistant U.S. attorney Jillian Anderson, who is prosecuting the case, will recommend a sentence of 15 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
The crime carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to the guilty plea agreement, the victim’s father in January 2023 discovered his daughter and Willyard were having sexual contact based on the girl’s social media accounts and text messages. The father first confronted Willyard, who denied the relationship, and then reported his findings to law enforcement.
The man’s daughter said she met Willyard through another girl who he also exchanged alcohol, marijuana and vapes for sexual acts with.
The girl said in November 2022, Willyard gave her Fireball whiskey in exchange for sex, the plea deal said.
On at least four other occasions, Willyard provided the girl marijuana, alcohol, vapes or vape cartridges for sex, according to the guilty plea.
The FBI, St. Louis County Police Department Special Investigations Unit and Jefferson County Sherriff’s Department investigated the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit justice.gov/psc.
Willyard also is facing felony charges in Jefferson County for sexual misconduct. The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in February 2023 charged him two counts of first-degree rape or attempted rape and two counts of first-degree sodomy or attempted sodomy, all four are unclassified felonies; enticement or attempted enticement of a child, an unclassified felony; second-degree statutory sodomy, a class D felony; and tampering with a witness in a felony prosecution, a class D felony, court records show.
According to state statutes, the offenses of first-degree rape or attempted rape and first-degree sodomy or attempted sodomy are punishable by five years to life in prison. The enticement or attempted enticement of a child charge carries a penalty of five to 30 years in prison, and class D felonies are punishable by up to seven years in prison.
According to the guilty plea, any sentences Willyard receives in U.S. District Court and Jefferson County Circuit Court will run concurrently, or at the same time.
Willyard is scheduled to appear in Jefferson County Circuit Court for a criminal setting on Aug. 6, court documents said.