A Michigan man found guilty of stalking and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old Lubbock girl will spend his remaining days behind bars.
Thomas John Boukamp, 22, was sentenced to life in federal prison on October 20, per the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a jury convicted Boukamp in June on 16 charges, including one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual conduct, one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, one count of enticement of a minor, two counts of receipt of child pornography, 10 counts of production and attempted production of child pornography, and one count of cyberstalking.
U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham, in his statement, said, “This man stalked and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old, then had the gall to claim in federal court that their so-called ‘relationship’ was consensual. The child, who bravely faced her abuser in court, asserted in no uncertain terms that his advances were unwelcome. By law, 14-year-olds simply cannot consent to sexual contact with adults.”
He further acknowledged the victim’s bravery in testifying and expressed his hope that she and her family find comfort and closure with the court’s decision.
Evidence showed that Boukamp met the victim on a social media platform when she was 13. The defendant terrified the victim by threatening to hurt her family if she divulged any information about their so-called “relationship” to anyone.
When she was 14, Boukamp transported the victim to his home in Michigan, where he sexually assaulted her, forcibly removed her braces with pliers, strangled, and hit her.
At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, recordings of jailhouse phone calls were played in which Boukamp expresses how much he loves teenage girls and how he does not care “what the morality of this current time and place says. It’s not wrong. There’s nothing wrong about it.”
In another call, Boukamp said that he would not apologize for “quote unquote ‘raping a 14-year-old.’”
At the sentencing hearing, attorneys also introduced into evidence a letter that Boukamp wrote to a family member noting his victim’s supposed “betrayal” and asking for help to escape prison.
The victim’s father, in his statement to the court, explained some of the lasting effects of Boukamp’s crimes.
“Her childhood ended so soon. He took that from her,” he said. “She struggles with her self-esteem. I don’t know if she’ll ever be able to truly love herself again… We hope that she can be okay. We hope that she can make it through this. We know that she will never be the same. We know that she will never get her innocence back.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Callie Woolam and Jeff Haag. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix presided over the trial.