Toby Studebaker
Encyclopedia
Toby Studebaker was a former U.S. Marine
who abducted a 12-year-old British girl in 2003 after grooming her via the Internet and was jailed for four and a half years.
He was born in Constantine, Michigan
in 1971, and trained in North Carolina
with the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, an anti-terrorism unit. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks
, he was posted to Afghanistan
, where he helped guard Taliban and al-Qaeda
suspects at Kandahar
International Airport.
He met Shevaun Pennington in July 2002 through Neopets
when she was 11 years old, though she had originally claimed to be 17. She left her home in Leigh
, Greater Manchester
on July 12, 2003, telling her parents she was going shopping. However, they flew to Paris
and stayed in a hotel for two days, where they had sex, before traveling to Strasbourg
. They were gone a total of five days, but he was finally arrested in Frankfurt
and extradited
to the UK in August.
He pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court in front of Lord Justice Leveson to abduction and incitement to gross indecency, and was jailed for four and a half years on April 2, 2004. He was deported to the United States at the end of this sentence, where he was jailed for another 11 years and 4 months by the federal court in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in April 2008, for the same offence. Further he was charged under American law with transporting a child across international boundaries for sexual exploitation. He received a concurrent sentence of 7 years and 11 months for possessing child pornography.
According to an affidavit
filed in 1998 in Michigan
, a 12-year-old relative complained that Studebaker fondled her while they were wrestling, but it was dropped during the preliminary proceeding.
The case is credited with encouraging the creation of a law against Internet
grooming
in Scotland
, after criticism that British courts were unable to consider offenses involving sexual intercourse because the activity happened abroad.
David Harrower's
play, Blackbird
, was inspired by the events.
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
who abducted a 12-year-old British girl in 2003 after grooming her via the Internet and was jailed for four and a half years.
He was born in Constantine, Michigan
Constantine, Michigan
Constantine is a village in St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,095 at the 2000 census. The village is located within Constantine Township. It is on U.S. Highway 131, leading to Kalamazoo to the north and to the Indiana Toll Road six miles to the south. The...
in 1971, and trained in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
with the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, an anti-terrorism unit. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, he was posted to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, where he helped guard Taliban and al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
suspects at Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
International Airport.
He met Shevaun Pennington in July 2002 through Neopets
Neopets
Neopets is a virtual pet website that was launched by Adam Powell and Donna Williams on November 15, 1999. Two years after the web site was launched, Adam Powell and Donna Williams sold a majority share to a consortium of investors led by Doug Dohring. On June 20, 2005, Viacom bought Neopets, Inc...
when she was 11 years old, though she had originally claimed to be 17. She left her home in Leigh
Leigh, Greater Manchester
Leigh is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southeast of Wigan, and west of Manchester. Leigh is situated on low lying land to the north west of Chat Moss....
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
on July 12, 2003, telling her parents she was going shopping. However, they flew to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and stayed in a hotel for two days, where they had sex, before traveling to Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
. They were gone a total of five days, but he was finally arrested in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
and extradited
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
to the UK in August.
He pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court in front of Lord Justice Leveson to abduction and incitement to gross indecency, and was jailed for four and a half years on April 2, 2004. He was deported to the United States at the end of this sentence, where he was jailed for another 11 years and 4 months by the federal court in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in April 2008, for the same offence. Further he was charged under American law with transporting a child across international boundaries for sexual exploitation. He received a concurrent sentence of 7 years and 11 months for possessing child pornography.
According to an affidavit
Affidavit
An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...
filed in 1998 in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, a 12-year-old relative complained that Studebaker fondled her while they were wrestling, but it was dropped during the preliminary proceeding.
The case is credited with encouraging the creation of a law against Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
grooming
Child grooming
Child grooming refers to actions deliberately undertaken with the aim of befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child, in order to lower the child's inhibitions in preparation for sexual activity with the child, or exploitation .Child grooming may be used to lure minors into...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, after criticism that British courts were unable to consider offenses involving sexual intercourse because the activity happened abroad.
David Harrower's
David Harrower
David Harrower is a Scottish playwright who lives in Glasgow.His agents are Casarotto Ramsay.-Career:...
play, Blackbird
Blackbird (play)
Blackbird is a one-act, ninety-minute play written in 2005 by Scottish playwright David Harrower. It was inspired in part by the crimes of sex offender Toby Studebaker and depicts a young woman meeting a middle-aged man fifteen years after having a sexual relationship, when she was twelve.-...
, was inspired by the events.