Sex offender gets 15 years
By Terry Murry on Thursday, June 1st, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PORTLAND – Thomas Anthony Lanier, 24, of Corvallis will serve 15 years in a federal prison and spend the rest of his life on supervised release for sex crimes against children. Lanier had already been arrested in 2019 for attempting to kidnap a 1-year-old child in Sunnyside, Washington.
Court documents indicate Lanier met a woman from Keizer online in June 2020 and pressured her into soliciting babysitting jobs so he could have access to children. He then expressed his desire to have sex with that woman’s 12-year-old cousin. The woman then called law enforcement and they set up a sting. Lanier was arrested when he showed up at a home he had been told was the young cousin’s residence, but was in fact vacant, owned by the city of Salem, and police were waiting.
A federal grand jury in Portland returned an indictment against Lanier in July 2021, charging him with four counts related to child sex abuse. Lanier entered a guilty plea to attempting to entice a minor online and illegally possessing a firearm as a registered sex offender. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Keizer and Salem police departments.
The Oregon District of the U.S. Department of Justice urges anyone with information about the physical or online exploitation of children to call 800-225-5324 or go online at https://tips.fbi.gov/.
