A Gulfport man was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to one count of exploitation of a child, stemming from an incident in which an online group that targets sexual predators caught him trying to meet up with a nine-year-old.
Justin Michael Cripps, who pled guilty in October but had his sentencing deferred to this week, will spend the next decade behind bars. Judge Christopher L. Schmidt sentenced the criminal to 30 years in prison with 20 years suspended, leaving 10 years to serve in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
The investigation into Cripps began in January 2022 after a man by the name of Alex Rosen filed a complaint with the Gulfport Police Department, Rosen, founder of a group called “Predator Poachers,” had previously confronted Cripps about sexually explicit messages he sent to one of their decoy accounts named “Bailey.”
Upon further investigation, Gulfport Police confirmed Cripps, in fact, had sent several sexually explicit messages, including pictures and videos, to an Instagram account he believed was a nine-year-old female. In the video-recorded confrontation between Cripps and Rosen, Cripps claimed his social media had been hacked and he never sent any messages to the account. He later admitted that was a lie.
“Members of the Gulfport Police Department obtained a search warrant for Cripps’ residence. During execution of the search warrant, police located Cripps’ cell phone hidden under a mattress in his bedroom,” Assistant District Attorney Jasmine Magee said. “A search of his cell phone and his Instagram records revealed that Cripps’ account had not been hacked and that he sent several messages to ‘Bailey,’ encouraging her to meet him in person.”
As part of Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, the court was provided with a copy of the messages, including some of the pictures. Judge Schmidt commented that the messages lacked an “element of humanity,” and that Cripps was “just a few keystrokes away from getting what (he) truly wanted.”
Due to the matters of the crime, Cripps will have to serve without the possibility of parole or early release. Upon the conclusion of his time in prison, he will have to register as a sex offender and complete five years of post-release supervision.