Washington man pleads guilty to coercing, enticing 14-year-old Mass. girl

A 44-year-old Washington man this week pleaded guilty in Boston to the coercion and enticement of a 14-year-old Massachusetts girl. 

Jabarie Phillips, also known as Jabarie Lindsey, of Seattle, Washington, pleaded guilty to the single count he was charged with in 2019 on Wednesday, according to a statement from the office of U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins. 

Federal prosecutors said that in April 2019, Phillips began communicating over Facebook with a 14-year-old middle schooler in Massachusetts, asking her “to take sexually explicit videos and photos of herself for him to view” despite knowing her age. When the 14-year-old told Phillips about problems in her family, the U.S. attorney’s office said the 44-year-old told her: “If you run away let me know we can take this show on the road I need a partner in crime.”

Phillips allegedly flew to Boston and the girl met him at Logan Airport on April 29, 2019, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. They then allegedly traveled to South Station together in order to catch a bus to Seattle, Washington, officials said. 

The bus was stopped by authorities on May 3 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where prosecutors said Phillips was arrested on two warrants. One was out of Massachusetts for kidnapping, the other was out of Washington for violating probation related to his release from prison for a 2008 manslaughter conviction. 

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, a charge of coercion and enticement of a minor carries a mandatory minimum sentence of “10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.”

Phillips is scheduled to return for sentencing on Sept. 8, 2022.