Retired Beloit police officer sentenced to prison for bringing teen girl to Illinois for sex

Listen to this article

A retired Wisconsin police officer will spend 10 years in prison for bringing a 13-year-old girl to Illinois for sex.

A federal judge sentenced 63-year-old Larry Woods earlier this week. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Wisconsin’s Western District said Woods, a retired Beloit police officer, was a friend of the 13-year-old’s family and had known the girl his entire life. The attorney’s office said Woods gained the trust of the girl’s mom by offering to be the girl’s mentor. An investigation found Woods had a relationship with the teenager from 2017 until his arrest in June 2018. Officials said he’d take her to Rockford, rent a hotel room and engage in sexual activity.

Woods pleaded guilty to transporting a minor for an illegal sexual purpose. He was also convicted of repeated sexual assault of the girl in Rock County. He was sentenced to 12 years in state prison. The federal sentence will run concurrently with his state sentence.

The attorney’s office said Judge James Peterson, who heard the case, noted that Woods targeted an extremely vulnerable victim and said his crime was truly outrageous. Follow @WLJReporter