U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison announced in a press release Thursday that a Sanilac County trucker was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for transporting a minor across state lines to engage in unlawful sexual activity.
37-year-old Kenneth George Zehnder, a truck driver from Lexington, was sentenced by United States District Judge Terrence G. Berg, having pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct charges related to a case in August 2019 involving a 15-year-old girl.
After his arrest in 2019, a 12-year-old victim came forward, reporting similar circumstances of abuse by Zehnder, with both victims reporting the abuse had been happening for years before his arrest.
“This sentence holds this offender responsible for the damage and terror he inflicted on this minor. I applaud her bravery for notifying the police and bringing him to justice. ” U.S. Attorney Ison stated.
This case was investigated by the Northeast Michigan Trafficking and Exploitation Crimes Task Force of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Clay County Sheriff’s Department, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Department, and the Michigan State Police, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Rawsthorne in a cooperative effort with the Stearns County Attorney’s Office.
