ABINGDON, Va. – A Cahokia, Illinois man pleaded guilty today to transporting a minor from Virginia to South Dakota with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
According to court documents, David Kyle Skaggs, 33, was an over-the-road tractor-trailer operator.
In 2015, Skaggs started communicating on Facebook with a 15-year-old boy in Lee County, Virginia with whom Skaggs knew his mother.
Over the course of several months, Skaggs and the boy, identified in court documents as “AA,” developed a friendly relationship and Skaggs became acquainted with AA’s family, including AA’s younger sister, victim “KL,” who was 13 years old.
In August 2015, Skaggs offered to take the children on a long-distance trip in his tractor-trailer. Skaggs picked up AA and KL in Lee County and drove them to South Dakota. After stopping at a truck stop in South Dakota, Skaggs bought the two minors alcohol, and they all drank while sitting in the truck.
After AA was asleep, Skaggs raped KL in the sleeper portion of Skaggs’ truck. KL later gave birth to Skaggs’s child.
Skaggs is scheduled to be sentenced on September 30, 2021 and faces a minimum penalty of 10 years in prison.
