West Tennessee man sentenced to 16 years for sexual exploitation of a minor

GIBSON COUNTY, Tenn. — A West Tennessee man who was arrested a few years ago on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor pled guilty to his charges Friday morning.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began looking into Kerry Wade in 2020 after receiving a cyber tip. After executing a search warrant, they later found information that Wade had images containing child sexual abuse. Friday morning, he pled guilty to these charges.

“Mr. Wade pled guilty to 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. He received a sentence of 16 years to be served at 100%. If he survives prison, he will be required to register as a sex offender and he will also be required to be on community supervision for life,” said 28th Judicial District Attorney, Frederick Agee.

Because Wade pled guilty, there was no trial in front of a jury. Agee tells us why this is significant.

“There’s no automatic appeal. There’s no decades long appeal where you wonder whether or not the person is going to get a new trial, or if they’re going to get some kind of relief. So that’s one of the benefits of the plea bargaining process is that he’s going to serve 16 years at 100%,” said Agee.

Agee also gave his thanks to the TBI for their work in this matter and says that without the tip they received, this may still be going on.

“Human trafficking, sexual exploitation of a minor, globally, is a big business. We hope that we have deterred that here in Gibson, Crockett, and Haywood County,” said Agee.

It was said in court that around 3,000 images or items were found leading to these charges. Wade has also already served a little over a year, which he will be credited with towards his sentence.

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