Pike County, Illinois Man Gets Federal Time for Sexual Misconduct

A Pike County, Illinois man is sentenced to federal prison Thursday on sexual misconduct charges.

In a press release, the U.S. Department of Justice in Springfield announced that 48 year old Ralph Hathaway of New Canton was sentenced to 33 years in prison for transporting a minor with the intent to engage in illegal sexual activity and two counts of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity.

A jury had convicted Hathaway of the charges last September.
Hathaway is alleged to have traveled to South Carolina several times over a two year period beginning in 2013 to have sex with a 13 year old girl he had met online.

In 2015, Hathaway allegedly brought the girl to a camper in Troy, Missouri, where he was arrested.

Along with his prison sentence, Hathaway was ordered to pay nearly $5,000 in restitution and remain on supervised release for five years.

The investigation that led to Hathaway’s arrest and conviction was conducted by a number of local, county and federal agencies in Illinois, Missouri, California and South Carolina.