In July 2015, the Knoxville Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) received information from KPD’s Repeat Offender Squad that there was a man attempting to engage in sexual acts with children in exchange for cash. A further investigation revealed that Patrick C. McCoy was the suspect.
As a result of the ICAC investigation, ICAC investigators arrested McCoy in July 2014 for Solicitation of a Minor to Engage in Certain Sexual Conduct, after McCoy agreed to meet a 12 year-old male for sex in exchange for $100.00. Investigators obtained a state search warrant to search the contents of Mr. McCoy’s cellular telephone and a forensic examination revealed that McCoy had engaged in the same type of behavior on twenty-two (22) separate occasions prior to investigators coming into contact with the suspect. The investigation revealed that McCoy was soliciting a minor through a third party, but never successfully came into contact with a child.
On March 23, 2016, a Knox County Grand Jury indicted McCoy on (22) additional Solicitation of a Minor to Engage in Certain Sexual Conduct charges in conjunction with KPD’s ICAC Task Force investigation.
On December 9, 2016, prosecutors with the Knox County District Attorney General’s Office Child Abuse Unit successfully obtained a guilty plea from McCoy for (2) counts of Solicitation of a Minor- Rape of a Child.
Today, the Honorable Judge Scott Green sentenced McCoy to an eight (8) year sentence for two (2) counts of Solicitation of a Minor-Rape of a Child, of which, one year will be served in split confinement. Upon release, McCoy will be registered on the lifetime sex offender registry due to the nature of the crimes.