LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Texas man will spend the next 35 years in a federal prison after kidnapping a Kentucky woman and transporting a minor across state lines.
Investigators said the first case began in November 2018.
Court documents state 42-year-old Bryan Conley created a fake online dating profile using the name “Bryant” where he offered money and property for sexual acts to lure a minor from Ohio. The minor met up with Conley in Tennessee. The acts between Conley and the minor happened in Tennessee and Kentucky before he took the minor to Texas, stealing her purse and phone and abandoning her.
Conley continued his deception in January 2019 and once again using an online profile, falsely claiming to be a modeling agent with the handle “Lance Debeers.” He engaged his victims with conversations about modeling.
Authorities said Conley met the victim in Shepherdsville where he took her phone and gave her an unknown substance as part of the modeling contract, documents said.
He then bound the victim and drove around Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee and demanded a $20,000 ransom from the woman’s family in Tennessee.
The FBI said Conley threatened to harm the victim if his demands were not met physically and sexually.
The FBI pretended to be the woman's family and eventually negotiated a $400 ransom and jewelry with Conley. They left it in a McDonald’s bag in Oak Grove, Kentucky.
Conley retrieved the ransom and was arrested shortly after. The woman was found inside his car safe.
Months after his arrest, Conley was released from custody and placed on home incarceration.
Investigators said he removed the device and fled to Ohio. Conley was arrested and detained up until his conviction by a federal jury in December 2023.
“The victims in this case never thought using an online dating service would subject them to the type of horrendous actions that this defendant inflicted upon them," Special Agent in Charge Michael Stansbury said. “Today’s sentence affirms the FBI’s steadfast commitment to protecting our community from acts of violence and intimidation and is an important reminder to remain vigilant and cautious as we use the internet in our everyday lives to avoid predators, like this defendant, who wish to harm us all.”
In addition to Conley’s 35-year prison sentence, he will have 25 years of supervised release. He was also convicted of bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and interstate threats to ransom.
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