Spencer Caudle of Prairieville, LA, was sentenced on Friday, Sept. 20 to seven years in state prison, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a news release on Monday, Sept. 23. The 36-year-old pleaded guilty to a sexual assault charge on Tuesday, Apr. 2.
Investigators said Caudle drove about 2,700 miles roundtrip from Louisiana to the Toms River area to have "sexual contact" with the 14-year-old girl on Saturday, May 27, 2023. Caudle had been chatting with the teen through the Whisper app.
Caudle planned to return to the Jersey Shore to sexually assault the girl a few weeks later. He flew from New Orleans to Newark on Friday, June 16, 2023, and was arrested at Liberty International Airport (EWR).
Caudle has been held in the Ocean County Jail since his arrest. The U.S. Air Marshals Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department helped take him into custody.
As part of his sentence, Caudle must also register as a sex offender, cannot contact his victim, and will receive lifetime parole supervision.
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