NASHVILLE, TN — A 25-year-old Hohenwald man has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for enticing a 16-year-old girl to flee her family’s home and traveling with her across multiple states to maintain an illegal sexual relationship.
Drew Roden was sentenced on Friday, June 12, 2026, to 108 months in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. Roden had previously entered a guilty plea in July 2025 to coercion and enticement to travel in interstate commerce to engage in illegal sexual activity.
Cross-Country Flight and Misdirection
According to federal court documents, Roden first met the minor victim in December 2022 when he was 22 years old. Despite being explicitly informed that the girl was 16, Roden continued to pursue her. He subsequently purchased a cellular telephone for her and used it to coordinate late-night meetings, encouraging her to sneak away from her family’s residence in Spring Hill, Tennessee.
In late January 2023, Roden picked up the minor and drove her across state lines, traveling first to Bowling Green, Kentucky, and ultimately relocating to Houston, Texas.
During the week the teenager was classified as a missing person, Roden engaged in a pattern of deception. Federal prosecutors noted that he repeatedly lied to the victim’s family, his own relatives, and concerned acquaintances regarding her safety and whereabouts, ignoring multiple direct pleas to return the child home.
FBI Multi-City Interception
The teenager’s family reported her disappearance to the Spring Hill Police Department, which quickly escalated the investigation to federal authorities due to the interstate nature of the flight.
Special Agents with the FBI’s Nashville Field Office utilized digital tracking to pinpoint Roden’s location in eastern Texas. Nashville agents coordinated directly with the FBI’s Houston Field Office, allowing tactical teams to locate Roden and take him into custody on February 2, 2023—approximately one week after the victim originally vanished.
Federal Judgement and Accountability
The case was investigated by the Spring Hill Police Department alongside the FBI field offices in both Nashville and Houston. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica R. Morrison for the Middle District of Tennessee, with trial support from the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.
“Adults who exploit children for their own sexual gratification are among the most serious offenders,” U.S. Attorney Braden H. Boucek for the Middle District of Tennessee said following the sentencing. “The defendant’s conduct warranted a sentence that reflects our unwavering commitment to pursuing those who prey on children.”
Because there is no parole in the federal prison system, Roden must serve the entirety of his 108-month sentence in confinement before beginning his decade of mandatory supervised release.
